BOSTON -- A two-day rumor sweeping the Internet led many New Englanders to believe that Patriots' linebacker Tedy Bruschi is dead.

He is not. Bruschi is alive.

The bizarre rumor seemed to have its origin with an anonymous e-mail to a Boston television station Monday. As the television station attempted to check the story, it turned into the Internet version of "telephone," where the story got twisted in every re-telling.

According to several e-mails received by TheBostonChannel.com, nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Bruschi was treated after a stroke in 2005, heard the story and relayed it to friends. Others heard that he had been treated at a different hospital closer to his home.

The rumor may have had more credence because of Bruschi's prior health problems and his dramatic return to the playing field after his stroke, but team spokesman Stacey James said Bruschi is alive and well.