There are generally three times sportswriters do not want to be bothered with news:
- Holidays
- Weekends
- Really, really early in the morning
They also do not want to bothered if it’s #FAKENEWS, but that is possibly what we have with the this deleted Instagram posted on Jimmy Garoppolo’s account.
As we all know, the Patriots already have a quarterback in Tom Brady. Backup Jimmy Garoppolo was good while the pajamas magnate was suspended four games at the start of 2016 for cheating, so of course, Jimmy G is a hot commodity. With all the moves the Browns made yesterday, speculation that a Cleveland-New England deal for Garoppolo was going to happen.
Despite that Instagram post on Garoppolo’s verified account, people who had to wake up very early after their phones vibrated next to their beds are saying the account was hacked or it was done as a joke by one of his friends.
Spoke to someone close to Jimmy Garoppolo who had no knowledge of any trade and believes it's a hack. Alas, it's 5:26 am now & we're all up
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2017
Source close to Jimmy G: No knowledge of any trade. Believes Instagram post (https://t.co/HfFqiAKyI1)
is hoax/hack that has set off frenzy.— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 10, 2017
In many respects, this does seem like a hack. “Peace out Boston” feels hacky. The time it was posted feels like it was done by someone looking to have fun, because what professional athlete rolls out of bed at that hour to post that? Clearly, this is a decent prank.
Or is it?
If this went up around 5 a.m. ET, what if Garoppolo was in California where it was 2 a.m.? Or Hawaii where it was around midnight? What if someone got their wires crossed and spilled the beans to him on a trade prematurely?
We have more questions than answers, just like fans, investigators and media when it comes to the Patriots cheating for nearly two decades.
