Boston newspaper apologizes for false Pats tapes story

By Jason Szep

BOSTON (Reuters) - The Boston Herald newspaper apologized on Wednesday for a false report on the New England Patriots videotaping the St. Louis Rams' final walkthrough a day before the teams met in the 2002 Super Bowl.

'Sorry Pats' read the newspaper's front-page headline a day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said there was nothing new in videotapes he received showing the Patriots taping opposing teams' signals and that no additional penalty against New England was being considered.

"We own up to the error on the walkthrough story," the tabloid said in its apology for this year's February 2 story quoting unidentified sources and published a day before New England's 17-14 Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants.

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

The apology, published in print and on its Web site, acknowledged the report was false and said it now knows no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.

"We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification," the newspaper said.

WALSH MEETING

On Tuesday, Goodell met for more than three hours with former New England video assistant Matt Walsh to go over eight videotapes he supplied the NFL and his experiences working for the Patriots from 1997 to 2003.