Herald apologizes

The Boston Herald apologized to the Patriots in its Wednesday editions for its error on the videotaping story involving the team.

The apology, a three-paragraph story in the Sports section teased with huge headlines on the front and back pages, said:

On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots' video staff taped the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough 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 the publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots' owners, players, employees, and fans for our error.

Kraft told the Associated Press: "I must compliment the Boston Herald for doing what is unprecedented in terms of recognizing their error in a major way. I'm really delighted with that, but I wish it never happened."