"On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots' 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."

Patriots respond

"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 ...

"I think I speak for all Patriot fans. We're relieved that this is over and you see that this is nonsense and we were unfairly accused and we're moving on ...

"I was unhappy with what transpired in the fall, the actions of some of our employees, and we were penalized severely for that. We said back in September that we had disclosed all of our actions as an organization to the league. You can see this is true.

"The erroneous story really led to a second round of inquisitions after September, and it really was a distraction. The sad part [is] that it took away from an 18-0 Super Bowl season."

The Herald story cited unidentified sources.

"For 3 1/2 months that story has hung out there like a cloud and we denied it right up front," Kraft said. "When the reporter called [team publicist] Stacey James with the story, he said it's completely false and unsubstantiated."