Wednesday morning, Boston Globe journalist Ben Volin went on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show and dropped a bombshell report about Mac Jones, which the sportswriter now admits came from an erroneous source.
During the WEEI segment, Volin shared a scoop he received from a Twitter DM claiming New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had an attitude problem. When asked whether the DM came from “someone that would know,” Volin said, “yes.”
“Someone reached out in my DMs and said, ‘Yeah, Mac, his attitude problem is obvious in the building and everyone knows it,’” Volin said. “Take that for what it’s worth.”
Volin admitted the report didn’t come from someone who covers the Patriots and it wasn’t something he planned on publishing in The Globe, but the veteran journalist still sounded confident that the unnamed source offered some aspect of credibility.
After WEEI made headlines out of the segment, a Barstool follower shared a screenshot of his DM to Volin, admitting it was a fabricated report and expressing surprise that the sportswriter actually ran with it.
Yeah I did. I made it up to see if he was really this stupid and I cannot believe he ran with it. pic.twitter.com/uMK8UjCCkH
— Nol (@nolanc79) October 19, 2022
And if there was any doubt as to whether the stoolie was telling the truth or photoshopped his DM, Volin finally admitted he was duped. “Hey everybody, just want to acknowledge that I made a mistake Wednesday on @WEEI,” Volin tweeted Thursday morning. “I should have not spoken of the DM without vetting it first. No excuses, It won’t happen again. I appreciate the feedback and comments I’ve received.”
Hey everybody, just want to acknowledge that I made a mistake Wednesday on @WEEI. I should have not spoken of the DM without vetting it first. No excuses, It won’t happen again. I appreciate the feedback and comments I’ve received.
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) October 20, 2022
There has been other reporting about Jones having a rift with the Patriots. Earlier in the week, Volin said the Patriots quarterback “needed to be humbled” coming off his rookie Pro Bowl campaign. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer claimed Jones’ relationship with the Patriots has “gone a little sideways,” and Mike Florio also reported a sense of tension between the team and their quarterback.
Maybe there is a bit of a rift between Jones and the Patriots. But for The Globe’s “senior NFL reporter” to see such an obviously questionable DM and decide to slander Jones by broadcasting it across Boston’s radio airwaves is a massive blow to the idea of journalistic integrity. At least Volin admitted his error once he was outed by Barstool Sports, rather than claim there was another DM from a more credible source. Still, walking into the Patriots locker room won’t be easy after this blunder.
[WEEI]
