ESPN is one of the most popular and widely respected sports media organizations in the world. They constantly attract the best talent among journalists, analysts, and content creators. Their audience spans the globe as they broadcast and report on various sports popular all over the world.
As great as ESPN is, though, sometimes they make mistakes. This appears to be the case in regard to a recent story they recently published about NFL free agent lineman Mike Pennel Jr. and his alleged involvement in a murder investigation that is taking place in the Dominican Republic.
ESPN retracts error-filled story on NFL free agent Mike Pennel Jr.
Last month, on June 18 to be exact, ESPN published a story about a murder investigation in the Dominican Replublic and claimed, among other things, that Pennel knew the woman who was killed. Not only that, the self-proclaimed world-wide leader in sports also claimed that the woman’s body was found on a property that Pennel once owned.
ESPN has now taken that story down and replaced it with the following retraction:
“On June 18, 2026, ESPN published a story about Michael Pennel Jr. and an investigation into the death of a woman in the Dominican Republic who disappeared on September 5, 2021. ESPN has determined the story contained errors and has removed it. Since the publication of the story, Pennel’s representatives have provided ESPN with documentation, including travel and financial records, supporting Pennel’s statements to ESPN that he was not in the Dominican Republic at the time the woman disappeared.”
Additionally, Pennel’s attorney’s released the following statement:
“Mr. Pennel had nothing to do with the death or disappearance of Ms. Roche and was never a suspect or person of interest in that investigation. He did not know her.
“Mr. Pennel’s personal records including his passport and other travel documents, banking records and photographs along with their geotracking locations confirm Mike was not in the Dominican Republic in September, 2021 at the time of Ms. Roche’s disappearance, or in the weeks before or after it. Mike was in Denver, Colorado being treated for a sports injury at the time and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons on September 15, 2021.”
This is a good lesson for perspective and current journalists to vet anonymous sources and make sure they receive both sides to a perspective story whenever possible.
Pennel, a two-time Super Bowl champion, is still a free agent and played in the NFL last year with the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs.
