ESPN reporter admits he was wrong on Ravens' owner Steve Bisciotti pressuring Goodell

ESPN reporter Sal Paolatonio finally admitted that he was wrong regarding his comments about Steve Bisciotti, and the Ravens pushing to have Goodell hold Tom Brady to his four game suspension.

Not shocking whatsoever for Ravens fans given that they know the Ravens' organization is one of the top tier teams in the league that rely on their reputation to get deals done and recruit some of the best talent at all of the roster positions as well as the front office and administrative staff.

Paolantonio originally pissed of Ravens' fans and the organization by coming out and directly blaming both the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens for pressuring commissioner Roger Goodell. The quote itself is about as inflamatory as you can get as a reporter, which should have been Sal's first note to himself.

You’re angering some of the hardcore owners out there. I know who they are, and I’m going to name them right now – Jim Irsay of the Colts, Steve Bisciotti of the Ravens, and others in the AFC who believe that the Patriots have gotten away with murder for years, and have not been publicly punished properly.

Steve Bisciotti commented on the report by denying it in no unquestionable terms.

The story circulating that I have put pressure on Roger (Goodell) is 100 percent wrong. The reports are unfair to Robert Kraft, who is an honorable person, and to his franchise.

Paolantonio admitted that he was wrong and put the responsibility squarely on his shoulders, but also left room for himself if it turns out that it is true.

I think he’s 100 percent right to put the statement out because he hasn’t put any pressure on Roger Goodell, and he hasn’t talked about ‘Deflategate’ at all, publicly or privately from what I was told

I was wrong to say what I said because clearly it sounds like Steve Bisciotti doesn’t care. And what I was able to find out pretty clearly, is that the owners are not pressuring Roger Goodell, at all. So I never should have reported that. And the other thing too, is that it wasn’t a report. It was just me talking on a radio station. It was my opinion and it was speculation.

"It sounds like Steve Bisciotti doesnt care," says Paolantonio in what is the absolute weakest apology I've ever heard.

Instead of either standing by your sources or coming directly out and saying that your sources were wrong, Sal goes the other way by basically saying that Ravens' owner Steve Bisciotti is pissed off so clearly I must be wrong. But an apology is still an apology and I'm betting that it came on the back of Bisciotti making a few phone calls to see Sal get himself in trouble for reporting it without doing his homework.

Seriously, this is the type of thing that reporters like Sal Paolantonio get fired over. You can be sure that his information coming from the Ravens organization will be limited for at least some time until the Ravens feel like he can be trusted again. Past that, there could be some level of discipline for the ESPN reporter from his employer for going off on a team owner like that.