Awful Rumor Sacked

Earlier this evening, we got wind of a horrible rumor that spread like a dark cloud over New England and across Internet message boards. The conjecture? More than two years after surviving a stroke, Tedy Bruschi had been taken into Caritas Hospital in Norwood, MA, and had possibly died. One source told us that the rumor originated at the hospital (possibly a staffer).

Rest assured, Tedy (a father of three boys) is okay- Stacey James (Patriots media relations) issued a statement on behalf of the linebacker confirming his well being. Still, this clarification came long after North Attleboro (Bruschi's home) police and fire departments had been contacted by legions of concerned media types and local sports radio asked worried listeners (around 9:30pm) to disregard the rumor (without actually describing what the "rumor" was).

It wasn't until Patriot's trusty beat-man Tom Curran filed this post from Atlanta that any clarification was made public. Yikes.

As the sports world buzzes with controversy concerning Vick, Tim Donaghy and Barry Bonds- this dreadful (and thankfully baseless) rumor sheds some perspective on the the type of sports icon that we should all be thankful for.

• Bruce at BSMW was all over this. To go along with some more insight on the source, here's a transcription of how one local sports radio station dealt with the situation.
• Outlets from outside of New England have been weighing on on this now. This post out of Cleveland seems to point a Stearn finger at the Boston Fox affiliate.
• Note: (6 pm 7/25) It seems Curran changed his initial report to cover up for Boston's Fox 25.
  

(deadspin links to the lefty!)