FanHouse

Boston Herald reporter John Tomase, who wrote the since-retracted February 2 article saying the Patriots taped the Rams' final practice before the 2002 Super Bowl, has been curiously silent as others have questioned his journalistic integrity.

In a post on the Herald's Patriots blog, Tomase finally broke his silence today, and he vowed to say more soon:

Readers of this space have probably been asking themselves, "Where the hell is Tomase?" over the last couple of days and it's a fair query. Right now I'm just landing from Washington and working on a story about Arlen Specter's press conference regarding his interview with Matt Walsh.

While that is going to have me tied up for the rest of the night, I just wanted to make one thing clear - I know I screwed up on the Rams taping story and I don't intend to hide behind today's apology or an editor's note. In Friday's Herald I will explain as clearly as I can where that story went wrong and begin the journey of restoring your trust in my reporting.

I cannot in good conscience demand accountability of the people I cover and then not provide it myself. So it's coming on Friday. Just be patient.

John

That's certainly a good step in the right direction. I can guarantee that Tomase's article in the Friday paper will be the Herald's most-read article since Tomase's article on February 2. It will be interesting to see how many people accept the apology he's sure to offer on Friday. And it will be interesting to see whether the Herald keeps Tomase on the Patriots beat next season.

Note: The Herald typically allows reader comments on its blogs but does not allow them on Tomase's blog, as the comments section is always overrun by readers insulting, threatening and otherwise expressing outrage toward Tomase.