Orlando Thomas: The former Minnesota Vikings safety, who has been battling Lou Gehrig’s disease for five years, is not dead, despite media reports that surfaced yesterday suggesting otherwise. The Vikings website first reported that Thomas had died Wednesday - using, apparently, a rumor that began in Myspace - and then other outlets began to pick up the news. Finally, former Minnesota receiver Jake Reed began tweeting that everything was incorrect, and the media outlets recanting the initial report. [Star Trib]