While news of Julian Edelman’s pending four-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy became headline news on Thursday, rumor of the ban first appeared on a Reddit Patriots message board Wednesday night.

The day before ESPN reported Edelman’s suspension, a user who goes by the handle Redditlover1981 posted this rumor to Reddit: “Rumor: Edelman potentially getting suspended for 4 games for PED’s.”

When other Reddit users questioned the validity of the rumor and the sources involved, Redditlover1981 countered with: “You’re about to feel really stupid tomorrow when this is national news but okay :).”

Sure enough, ESPN broke the story Thursday afternoon, citing league sources.


So, who is Redditlover1981, how was the poster privvy to confidential information regarding a failed NFL drug test, and how did the poster know the news would break Thursday?