Boston newspaper apologizes for false Pats tapes story

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.

"I don't anticipate any further sanctions," Goodell told a news conference after meeting Walsh on what has been dubbed 'Spygate'. "What we heard and saw was fundamentally consistent with what we already knew."

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 last year for breaking rules regarding videotaping. The Pats were also fined $250,000 and forfeited a first-round draft pick.

The punishment was handed down after videotape was confiscated by the league following New England's 2007 season-opening game against the New York Jets.

Walsh's tapes did not include footage related to the Super Bowl win over St Louis and the former Pats assistant said that although he was on the field during the walkthrough to attend to his own preparations there was no videotaping done.

Walsh agreed to send the NFL tapes he had taken of opposing coaches' signals during games from 2000-2002 in exchange for a promise he would not face any legal action from the NFL or the Patriots.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)