The Truth About Stafford

If you happened to read the comments on this post yesterday, you're probably aware why I led my links today with a rather long rant on journalistic ethics.

As a reporter, the one thing you cannot allow to be damaged is your reputation, so that's a battle I'm likely to fight every time.

Having said that, I'm not above accepting a good suggestion on ways to be a BETTER reporter. The original arguments came because a reader disagreed with my willingness to link to a story that first appeared on ProFootballTalk.com that said Matthew Stafford was telling former teammates that his deal with the Lions was all but done.

I passed along the link because the news was already out there, and I figured my readers deserved to know where it was coming from. What I did not do was judge the accuracy of the article or give my opinion as to its legitimacy. I still don't believe that was something I needed to do.

Still, I understand the desire to get to the truth, and the truth really wasn't that hard to come by. I spoke with Kris Durham today, who is one of Stafford's closest friends on the team and his roommate for the past year. Here's what he had to say:

"There isn't any truth to that. He still doesn't have any idea where he's going yet."

So there you have it... the truth at last!

Now, don't let this extra effort on my part fool you into thinking you can bully me into doing anything you want. Although you probably can.

Also, don't forget to watch Stafford on Jimmy Fallon tonight with Rachel McAdams and Lost's Michael Emerson.