The Boston Herald has yanked a story by columnist Ron Borges after learning that the source for the piece had been impersonating as Tom Brady’s agent, Don Yee.
The faux Yee texted Borges what looked like a major scoop, that the Patriots star was preparing to throw a Super Bowl-sized tantrum if he wasn’t paid more money, like his sports protege, Jimmy Garoppolo, recently received for the San Francisco 49ers.
“According to sources close to the league’s Most Valuable Player, Brady is ready to sit out all of this year’s offseason organized team activities unless he receives a contract extension that carries with it up-front money similar to what his former protege, Jimmy Garoppolo, will receive from the San Francisco 49ers,” wrote Borges.
“Now he stands ready to make clear to his bosses that he is not about to see his former backup, who won as many games this season as Brady has won Super Bowl rings, receive more up front money than he will earn going forward,” the column read.
A link to the now-deleted article leads directly to the Herald’s broader sports page, but you can read a Google cache copy here.
As the New York Post reported, the story began to unravel after the Kirk & Callahan sports talk radio show obtained text messages between Borges and the random sports fan pretending to be Yee, who is also a listener of the show on WEEI.
Goodbye @RonBorges. pic.twitter.com/4h7bdRpTdq
— Mut at Night (@MutAtNightWEEI) February 9, 2018
Borges did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.