Today In Patriots History Feb 2, 2008: John Tomase publishes libelous fiction on eve of Super Bowl

February 2, 2008:
The Boston Herald runs a completely bogus story, that people across the country to this day still believe to be true.

For five months, starting in week one of the 2007 season, the New England Patriots did not lose a game. And during that identical timeframe the sports media, primarily ESPN, drew a ratings bonanza with conjecture, speculation, innuendos and conspiracy theories about nefarious deeds that the Patriots were supposedly perpetrating on other innocent teams and fans.

In a rush to be the first with a new story, John Tomase and his editors at the Boston Herald ran a highly inflammatory article based on a single anonymous source (who heard it from a friend of a friend), less than 24 hours before the super bowl was set to kickoff. As a result to this day most sports fans - and sadly, many in the media - still believe that the Patriots were caught filming opponents' practices, and using that information in game preparation. But ask those same fans and media who reside outside of the Boston about John Tomase, and universally the answer will be 'who is he?'






























Herald Reporter Walks Through How He Botched Article

Tomase ruined Super Bowl weekend for me that season. Disgraceful that this garbage made it to print. He should have never been employed in media again after that.

Agree 1 million times.

Mr. Tom-ase ruined not just that SB weekend for me but so many others following it! Still bothers me....

This line in this timely OP reinforces the unbelievable achievement that the Pats were poised to pull off : 'For five months, starting in week one of the 2007 season, the New England Patriots did not lose a game.'

And though the Gints did play well, there is little doubt that the players too were affected by the turmoil and mayhem sowed by this nitwit 'reporter' and the trash paper that distracted us from being the only unbeaten team in history, and worse, smearing the Pats name for ever.

So, FU Mr. Tom-ase and the BH.

sb1 said:

Tomase ruined Super Bowl weekend for me that season. Disgraceful that this garbage made it to print. He should have never been employed in media again after that.

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More important than ruining that weekend for YOU - - he ruined it for the Patriots coaching staff who had to be pulled away from preparations for the game less than 48 hours pregame to be interrogated - - that is called "game fixing" and is every bit a crime as the White Sox 1919 scandal.

Tomase never faced legal justice for what he did.

.

He should have been fired immediately, then tared, feathered., and run out of town I never understood why he was still employed after it came out that the tape was fake and he never verified its existence. He claimed to be a journalist, but real journalists vet their source and the evidence

**** Tomase.

Aside from the complete fabrication of the whole walkthrough thing, there was an actual story about spying before SB36. Pepper Johnson spotted someone in a house across the street watching the Patriots during an outdoor practice, and the league confirmed that a telescope was visible in the window. That story seemingly barely gained any traction and is largely forgotten.

I don’t get why a home teams own media outlet would try and smear them. I get that it COULD be huge, yet amounted to nothing. Dude should have been fired and blacklisted. I’m all for the media doing their job when it’s true.

PancakeBlockPaul said:

I don’t get why a home teams own media outlet would try and smear them. I get that it COULD be huge, yet amounted to nothing. Dude should have been fired and blacklisted. I’m all for the media doing their job when it’s true.

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Tomase did it to make a national name for himself. Fame, money, greed.

Delicate Genius said:

**** Tomase.

Aside from the complete fabrication of the whole walkthrough thing, the most infuriating part for me is that there was an actual story about spying before SB36. Pepper Johnson spotted someone in a house across the street watching the Patriots during an outdoor practice, and the league confirmed that a telescope was visible in the window. That story seemingly barely gained any traction and is largely forgotten.

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Don't have the link - I think it was from the Times but yes someone was spying on the Patriots Super Bowl practice with binoculars or a telescope.

Edit: here it is.

Halfway through practice, Patriots' linebackers coach Pepper Johnson noticed something in a third-floor window of a house next to the field. Club and league officials said a telescope was clearly visible in the window, according to a pool report, and that 15 minutes later, a person appeared at the window, and then vanished.
Officials scanned the window with binoculars, but the person never returned.

The bolded and underlined part was interesting. Says the league was aware of it and.........they did nothing. Imagine my shock.

shmessy said:

More important than ruining that weekend for YOU - - he ruined it for the Patriots coaching staff who had to be pulled away from preparations for the game less than 48 hours pregame to be interrogated - - that is called "game fixing" and is every bit a crime as the White Sox 1919 scandal.

Tomase never faced legal justice for what he did.

.

Click to expand...

And a few years later as BB noted he had to dedicate a lot of Super Bowl prep time to studying how air pressure behaves in footballs... all over a completely fabricated "scandal". And one of the best things about them winning that game is I always thought there was a nefarious reason for this made up scandal. It would be interesting to learn who if any had a vested interest at 345 Park Avenue in a Patriots loss... maybe someone/people who gambled on the outcome? That would destroy the league so if that was true - something like that would never see the light of day.

It's a shame the Patriots can't sue the league for this crap.

February 2, 1962:
Boston signs FB Pete Hart, a 5'9, 190 lb fullback who had been a 17th round (194th overall) selection by the Chicago Cardinals from Hardin-Simmons in the 1959 NFL draft. Hart had played in all 14 games for the 1960 New York Titans, but did not make Mike Holovak's '62 Pats roster.




February 2, 1972:
Day Two of the 1972 NFL Draft, rounds 8-17, from the Essex House in New York City
The Patriots select ten players on Day Two of the 1972 Draft, from legendary college football programs such as NW Oklahoma State, Angelo State, Colorado Mesa, Eastern Michigan and San Jose State.

None of those ten draftees would ever play a single game in the NFL.

Day One wasn't much better, as HC John Mazur and GM Upton Bell had made a series of awful trades involving draft picks. The Patriots own first round draft pick had been sent to Minnesota as compensation for Joe Kapp, and a second round one pick - received as compensation for the loss of free agent Phil Olsen - was traded away to the Giants for Fred Dryer, who refused to play for the Pats. The second round pick had been traded away to Dallas for RB Duane Thomas, another guy that never played a down for the Patriots.

The only players the Patriots had to show from day one for this pathetic draft were:
WR Tom Reynolds, 2nd round; one season, 12 games, zero starts; 8 catches, 152 yards, 2 TD
DE Jim White, 3rd round; one season, 13 games, six starts; one sack
CB Ron Bolton, 5th round; four seasons, 55 games, 45 starts; 18 interceptions
TE Clark Hoss, 7th round; zero games with Patriots
RB John Tarver, 7th round; three seasons, 31 games, 15 starts; 754 yards, eight touchdowns
The 4th round pick was used to trade for Steve Kiner, who did start all 28 games in two seasons, so at least there was that.



February 2, 1980:
The Patriots hire Fritz Shurmur to be their defensive coordinator, and Bill Parcells as linebackers coach.




February 2, 1983:
New England releases running backs Sam Cunningham and Andy Johnson, marking the official end of what remained of the run-heavy, smashmouth Chuck Fairbanks era. Fullback Mark van Eeghen was tendered a qualifying offer.



February 2, 1986:
Ronnie Lippett, Fred Marion and Ed Reynolds become 'free agents', and are all tendered a qualifying offer.



February 2, 1987:
Rich Camarillo, Ronnie Lippett and Mosi Tatupu become 'free agents', and are all tendered a qualifying offer.



February 2, 1988:
Irving Fryar, Ronnie Lippett, Johnny Rembert and Andre Tippett become 'free agents', and all are tendered a qualifying offer.



February 2, 1990:
29 players become 'free agents', including Raymond Clayborn, Jeff Feagles, Doug Flutie, Larry McGrew and Mosi Tatupu.



February 2, 1992:
19 players become 'free agents'; the Pats decline to tender a qualifying offer to eight, including Ed Reynolds and Jason Staurovsky.



February 2, 1993:
Safety John Granby is released.
Tommy Hodson, Maurice Hurst and Jon Vaughn become 'free agents'.

Hodson would sign with Miami in 1993, Dallas in 1994, then the former LSU star QB would finish his NFL career with the Saints in 1995-96. Hurst would re-sign and play for the Pats through 1995, while Vaughn would be traded to Seattle just before the end of training camp.



February 2, 1996:
Troy Brown is re-signed.
Bingo was entering his fourth season, and for the last two had been the Pats kick returner - but not punt returner (Dave Meggett handled that role). It would be another year until Troy finally got his first NFL touchdown, with six in 1997.



February 2, 1998:
Pats waive WR Larry Ryans, a college track star that never panned out in the NFL.
New England also signs LB Dana Cottrell, a Billerica native who played in two games for the Pats in '98.



February 2, 1999:
Pats sign free agent WR Sir Mawn Wilson, who had originally been signed on Oct 21, 1998 - but never played for the Pats.
New England placed him on IR on 8/31/99, and the royally-named receiver went on to have a lengthy indoor football career, playing in the Arena league until 2006.



February 2, 2002:
Four signed to practiced squad - Patriots.com





February 2, 2008:
Santonio Thomas is elevated from the practice squad to the active roster.
The defensive tackle played in four games for the Pats in 2007, but did not play in the upcoming super bowl game.
The Pats waived Thomas at the end of the 2008 training camp.



February 2, 2015:
The Pats waive OT/TE Steve Maneri.
This was Maneri's second stint with the Pats - who played in a total of one game for the Patriots, collecting one ring.



February 2, 2022:
OL Bill Murray is signed to a reserve/futures contract.
Murray has been on and off the Pats roster and practice squad numerous times from 2020 to 2025, but only got on the field in a Pats uniform for one game, in 2022.



February 2, 2025:
TE/FB Giovanni Ricci is signed to a reserve/futures contract.
Ricci was released early in the off season (on April 29), then spent 2025 with Detroit.

sb1 said:

Tomase ruined Super Bowl weekend for me that season. Disgraceful that this garbage made it to print. He should have never been employed in media again after that.

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Should have been fired and run out of town. To this day, if I see his mug on the TV, I turn the channel or turn it off.

The interesting part of the whole spying thing is that the rules around spying were so vague for years that many teams were taking advantage of it. Like how the rules banned filming certain things from the field but said absolutely nothing about using the camera in a public place... like filming from the stadium concourse which is public. The Packers, Broncos, Patriots and a few other teams were known to take advantage of these loopholes, they admitted to doing so, and the league had no problem with it.

In fact even if there was a walkthrough tape... the Patriots could rightfully say that the rules as they were written allow them to film from where they did and they would be correct. These loopholes were not closed until 2007 when the league tightened things up.

jmt57 said:

Today in Patriots History
The infamous John Tomase lie​

February 2, 2008:
The Boston Herald runs a completely bogus story, that people across the country to this day still believe to be true.

For five months, starting in week one of the 2007 season, the New England Patriots did not lose a game. And during that identical timeframe the sports media, primarily ESPN, drew a ratings bonanza with conjecture, speculation, innuendos and conspiracy theories about nefarious deeds that the Patriots were supposedly perpetrating on other innocent teams and fans.

In a rush to be the first with a new story, John Tomase and his editors at the Boston Herald ran a highly inflammatory article based on a single anonymous source (who heard it from a friend of a friend), less than 24 hours before the super bowl was set to kickoff. As a result to this day most sports fans - and sadly, many in the media - still believe that the Patriots were caught filming opponents' practices, and using that information in game preparation. But ask those same fans and media who reside outside of the Boston about John Tomase, and universally the answer will be 'who is he?'

John Tomase's Big Lie

When you hear that the New England Patriots taped practices, do you realize it is not true? John Tomase made it up. So why does the myth persist?

thetomaselie.com

Whenever the subject of the New England Patriots comes up, someone will likely claim They cheated – they filmed other team’s practices!!​

Did you know this is a complete fabrication, and even the NFL admits it never happened?​

On the eve of Super Bowl XLII, John Tomase of the Boston Herald published a report that the New England Patriots had filmed a walk-through of the St Louis Rams prior to Super Bowl XXXVI:​

According to a source close to the team during the 2001 season, here’s what happened. On Feb. 2, 2002, one day before the Patriots’ Super Bowl game against heavily favored St. Louis in New Orleans, the Patriots visited the Superdome for their final walkthrough.​

After completing the walkthrough, they had their team picture taken and the Rams then took the field. According to the source, a member of the team’s video staff stayed behind after attending the team’s walkthrough and filmed St. Louis’ walkthrough.​

At no point was he asked to identify himself or produce a press pass, the source said. The cameraman rode the media shuttle back to the hotel with news photographers when the Rams walkthrough was completed, the source said.​

It’s not known what the cameraman did with the tape from there. It’s also not known if he made the recording on his own initiative or if he was instructed to make the recording by someone with the Patriots or anyone else.​

Boston Herald, February 2nd, 2008​

That’s it. Pretty flimsy.​

As the year went on, questions were raised about the accuracy of the report, and about Tomase’s reporting – using one anonymous source is not usually an acceptable practice in journalism.​

An April statement from the NFL poured cold water on Tomase’s claims:​

League spokesman Greg Aiello provided details yesterday of the league’s inquiry into the matter in the days following this year’s Super Bowl.​

“The bottom line is, there is no evidence whatsoever that this walkthrough tape exists, to this point,” Aiello said. “We were following up on the rumors that circulated Super Bowl weekend, including the idea specifically that there was this Rams walkthrough tape, to see if there was any evidence whatsoever, and nothing was produced.”​

The league investigated in early February by sending director of security Milt Ahlerich to Foxboro to interview coach Bill Belichick, vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, video coordinator Jimmy Dee and other members of the team’s video department, Aiello said. The NFL also spoke to members of the Rams video department, he said.​

Aiello confirmed the league’s investigation revealed there was no power supply to the cameras on the afternoon of the Rams’ walkthrough and that the Patriots had left their battery packs at home, making their cameras inoperable from the sidelines.​

That last paragraph was the kill shot. There was no power available to operate a camera.​

Tomase and the Herald held out hope that former Patriots staffer Matt Walsh’s meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell would finally provide the validation they were seeking.​

It didn’t happen.​

A Reminder About John “Rollo” Tomase…

“Rollo Tomasi’s the reason I became a cop. I wanted to catch the guys who thought they could get away with it. It was supposed to be about justice.” – Ed Exley (Guy Pearce),…

bostonsportsmedia.com

On May 14, 2008. The Boston Herald issued a front and back page apology:​

On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots [team stats]’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.​

Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.​

The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.​

May 14, 2008. The Boston Herald​

This has not stopped the notion that the “Patriots taped practices” from being restated as fact every single day since. Even ESPN has, on multiple occasions, referred to the Patriots taping practices, and on one occasion issued a late-night apology for the statements.​

John Tomase’s career has continued, even flourished, unfettered from any disgrace or criticism regarding this incident. He kept his job, continued on the Patriots beat for another year before being promoted to the Red Sox beat – where he wanted to be all along. He was later hired as a columnist for WEEI.com. Fellow media people love the guy, and will never say a bad thing about him, even though he is responsible for a lie that is retold every single day.​

Herald Reporter Walks Through How He Botched Article

As reported by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, Jonathan Kraft, a son of Bob Kraft, the Patriots’ owner, was on WEEI radio in Boston and said The Herald gave the Patriots about an hour to respond before the story was shipped for print on Friday night, Feb. 1.​

Kraft said the article threw the team’s executives and coaches into turmoil as they tried to prepare for the Super Bowl:​

​

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Senator Arlen Spector also threatened a congressional investigation into Spygate.

Just the thing to hear on the day before you are trying create NFL history by going undefeated.

I mentioned it in another thread, that the Pats* really should have an asterisk at the end of their name. It signifies that no other team has been subjected by the league to items intended to bring the Pats back to the pack, since the rest of the league could not compete with the Pats.

They were THAT dominant.

PancakeBlockPaul said:

I don’t get why a home teams own media outlet would try and smear them. I get that it COULD be huge, yet amounted to nothing. Dude should have been fired and blacklisted. I’m all for the media doing their job when it’s true.

Click to expand...

Thats the boston sports media . They think they are bigger and more important than the teams. in all 4 sports.

These days Tomase is doing contract editor work. Thats rich.

Still being pedalled as fact this week, this fake news literally cost Belichick the hall of fame and that's not an exaggeration all it had to do was swing one voter.

Happy 32nd birthday to Malcom Brown
Born Feb 2, 1994 in Brenham, Texas
Patriot DT, 2015-2018; uniform #90
Pats 1st round (32nd overall) selection of the 2015 draft, from Texas
Pats résumé: four-year starter, 60 games (51 starts); 11 playoff games, two rings


Malcom Brown was a solid but not spectacular player for the Patriots, not quite living up to his draft status. He played in 60 games with 51 starts with the Pats, as well as in all 11 playoff games - and earned two Super Bowl rings. Brown was typically used on first and second downs and was effective against the run. His annual percentage of playing time was 47%, 57%, 51% and 44%.

The Pats declined his fifth year option and did not appear to make an attempt to re-sign him. As a rookie he had been signed to a four-year contract worth $7.6 million, with $6.1 million guaranteed and a $3.8 million signing bonus. Six days into free agency in 2019 the Saints signed Brown to a three-year, $15 million deal. Brown was Sean Payton's starting right defensive tackle for two seasons, then traded to Jacksonville for nothing more than a 7th round draft pick. He was the Jags' starting nose tackle in 2021, his final season of pro football. Brown now works as a high school football coach in Texas.




Jan 29, 2018:











Aug 19, 2015:
Was Malcom Brown the Best College 3-Tech DT in Last Year's Draft?


Dec 30, 2015:



June 3, 2016:



Aug 9, 2016:


Dec 1, 2016:


Dec 7, 2017:


March 14, 2019:

















Oopsies on those 'additions'.




Perhaps Malcom Brown was never a great fit in the Patriots two-gap scheme?

Aug 16, 2019:


March 2, 2021:



March 16, 2021:


March 7, 2024:

March 12, 2024:

March 14, 2024:

Happy 77th birthday to Ray Jarvis
Born Feb 2, 1949 in Chesapeake, Virginia
Patriot WR, 1979; uniform #87
Signed as a free agent on April 25, 1979
Pats résumé: seven games, two receptions, one touchdown

Leon Raeminton Jarvis was originally a fifth round draft pick by Atlanta in 1971, from NAIA Norfolk State. His best season came in 1976 with Detroit when he had 822 yards receiving and five touchdowns, averaging 21.1 yards per catch.

Jarvis was 30 years old when the Pats signed him, and 1979 would be the final season of his nine year NFL career. He appeared in seven games for the Patriots, with one touchdown.

Happy 64th birthday to Mel Black
Born Feb 2, 1962 in New Haven, CT
Patriot LB, 1986-1987; uniform #94, #51
Signed as an undrafted rookie on May 10, 1986
Pats résumé: six games, with two starts

After graduating from West Haven High School, Melvin Black headed west - first going to Santa Ana Junior College, then halfway back, to Eastern Illinois University. He was teammates with a surprisingly high number of EIU Panthers football players that made it to the NFL, including future head coaches Sean Payton and Brad Childress.

Black did not make the Patriot roster out of training camp in 1986, but was re-signed late in the season and appeared in three games. He was waived again near the end of the 1987 camp, then re-signed to play in the three replacement player games. Black signed with the Raiders early the following offseason but was waived at the start of training camp, ending his brief pro football career.

Former EUI Panthers in the NFL