MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Vikings All-Pro safety Orlando Thomas did not die Wednesday morning, as was reported on the Vikings' own Web site, according to his agent, Mark Bartelstein, who spoke to Thomas' family Wednesday night.
Thomas, who lives in Youngsville, La., has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, for five years. ALS is an incurable progressive neurodegenerative disease with an average life expectancy of two to five years following diagnosis.
"It's not true," Bartelstein said. "He's still fighting as hard as ever. I don't know anybody to fight a disease or illness the way he has fought this. He's continuing to fight the fight and is cheering on the Vikings every day."
The Vikings reported Thomas' death on their Web site on Wednesday evening after officials from Louisiana-Lafayette, Thomas' alma mater, called to inform them that he had died. The Star Tribune of Minneapolis followed with a blog post, citing the Vikings' Web site as the source of the information.
Asked to confirm the report, Bartelstein called and spoke with one of Thomas' daughters, who was with Thomas' wife, Demetra. According to Bartelstein, Demetra said the misinformation began early Wednesday and snowballed throughout the day.
"Somebody put it on their MySpace page down in Crowley, La. [near Youngsville], and I guess the local media ran with it or something," Bartelstein said. "You know how in today's world once rumors start, it spreads like wildfire. You know how people communicate nowadays. But it's totally false. He's sick, but he's good, and he's fighting the battle he fights every day."
The Star Tribune already had a story written on Thomas' death when it learned that former Vikings receiver Jake Reed, who is very close to Thomas, 37, and his family, had been frantically tweeting at twitter.com/JakeReed86 that Thomas wasn't dead.
"Attention All ... Orlando Thomas is NOT dead!! Thanks for your concern! Please continue to pray for him and his family!" one tweet said.
"What? ESPN reporting it too??? Wow, he is not dead!" another tweet said.
"This is NOT true! I just spoke to his family and they are VERY upset about this! He is fine!" another one said.
Former Vikings coach Dennis Green, who drafted Thomas in the second round in 1995, had already commented on Thomas' presumed death for the Star Tribune before Bartelstein called the paper to say Thomas was still alive. When contacted later, Green was relieved.
"It's a new world of information, man," Green said. "But this is good news. OT's just a tremendous young man. He has so much respect from people. Everybody likes him."
