Buffalo Bills: Shawne Merriman Denies Steroid Allegations and Online Rumors

Shawne Merriman denies allegations that he was stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol with a controlled substance as he was traveling back from Canada earlier this year.

On Thursday, Patrick Moran of The Buffalo Sports Daily, an online blog, reported:

"

According to a reliable source close to the situation, Buffalo Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman was caught carrying steroids near the United States border late Thursday night, July 28 on the eve of Bills’ training camp.

"

Upon seeing the report, it was easy to tell a few things. First, Mr. Moran, energetic though he may be, is not a credentialed member of the media. Secondly, Moran seemingly made no attempt to confirm the story with U.S. Customs nor with anyone connected with Merriman.

Though this story had all the makings of a ridiculous Internet rumor, it was re-tweeted by Pro Football Weekly, who quickly added that they were simply passing along the rumor while trying to confirm.

That's where things took off.

The story was quickly copied by smaller sites such as The Cover Two as well as sites with bigger audiences like Black Sports Online and SB Nation.

Calls placed to Merriman's representation were met with stunned silence and a request to "pass along the link," which seemed to indicate that it was the first his people had heard of such allegations.

An hour later, Merriman tweeted:

"

To answer your question guys I'm disappointed by a story that was written by a Buffalo writer regarding a routine stop at the Canadian border a few weeks ago. To clarify, there was (sic) Absolutely NO steroids found in my vehicle & there were NO charges against me. I've received a great welcome by the community and fans. I've worked my butt off to have a great season.

"

On Friday, journalists from the Buffalo News did the due diligence of not only talking to Merriman, but also the U.S. Attorney in Buffalo.

"

"We have not been presented with any matter for prosecution involving Shawne Merriman or anyone else on the Buffalo Bills," said James P. Kennedy, first assistant in the U.S. Attorney's office in Buffalo. Kennedy said he was not even aware that Merriman had been stopped at the border.

"

They also spoke to the U.S. Border Patrol, adding:

"

Thomas Russert of the U.S. Border Patrol in Buffalo said his office had no information to release. Russert said unless an individual was arrested or charged criminally, his office would not be able to discuss any border matter, under privacy regulations.

"

The real story appears to be that Merriman was routinely stopped, like many, at the border between the U.S. and Canada and sent on his way. From there, loose lips and water-cooler gossip took over, and Moran of the Buffalo Sports Daily didn't understand the responsibility he had before disseminating such a report to the general public.

Friday morning, Moran defended himself by saying he had tweeted Merriman the morning after learning about allegations. The other sites have offered no retractions, instead altering their stories to add that this was just a "rumor" and that Merriman has denied the allegations.

The moral of this story is clear. In our digital world, not everyone who tries to report news is trained in news gathering or journalistic ethics. Trying to be "first to market" with news is often dangerous and can lead to careless mistakes.

It took less than 12 hours to absolutely and unequivocally debunk this story. In the real world, that is no time at all. On the Internet, it was just enough time for thousands of people to read a story and believe a false report, many of whom will never read, believe or care that the rumors weren't true.

Michael Schottey is an on-call editor for the Bleacher Report College Writing Internship, as well as an NFL Featured Columnist and an NFL Labor/Draft Expert. A member of the Pro Football Writers of America, he has professionally covered the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, as well as NFL events like the Scouting Combine and the Senior Bowl. Follow him on  Twitter.