Aaron Hernandez Part I

 Aaron Josef Hernandez (November 6, 1989 – April 19, 2017) was an American professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played three seasons with the New England Patriots until his arrest and conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez played college football for the Florida Gators, earning first-team All-American honors and winning the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. Due to concerns towards his size and off the field incidents, he was not selected until the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Patriots. Alongside teammate Rob Gronkowski, Hernandez formed one of the league's most dominant tight end duos, becoming the first pair to score at least five touchdowns each in consecutive seasons for the same team. He also made an appearance in Super Bowl XLVI.

During the 2013 offseason, Hernandez was arrested and charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée. Following his arrest, Hernandez was immediately released by the Patriots. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. While on trial for Lloyd's murder, Hernandez was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado; he was acquitted after a 2017 trial.

Days after being acquitted of the double homicide, Hernandez was found dead in his cell, which was ruled a suicide. His conviction for Lloyd's murder was initially vacated under the doctrine of abatement ab initio because Hernandez died during its appeal, but was reinstated in 2019 following an appeal from prosecutors and Lloyd's family. Hernandez was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to speculation over how the condition may have affected his behavior.

Early life

Family and abuse

Hernandez was born in Bristol, Connecticut, on November 6, 1989, and raised on Greystone Avenue. His parents are Dennis Hernandez, of Puerto Rican descent, and Terri Valentine-Hernandez, of Italian descent. As an adult, Hernandez remembered his mother throwing his father out of the house on multiple occasions, but always letting him back in. The couple married in 1986, divorced in 1991, and remarried in 1996. In 1999, they filed for bankruptcy. Hernandez later stated there was constant fighting going on in the home. Both parents would be arrested and involved in crime during their lives.

Hernandez had an older brother, Dennis Jonathan Jr., known as D.J. Their father pushed them to excel, including through sports, but was often abusive towards both the boys and their mother. The beatings Hernandez's father gave him and his brother were sometimes for no reason at all or were alcohol-related, but often came when their father believed they were not trying hard enough in school or athletics. D.J. and Hernandez lived in constant fear of their father, but also revered him. Hernandez once came to school with a bruise around his eye, and his coach believed that the injury resulted from his father attacking him. His father once punched Hernandez's youth football coach after a dispute about coaching methods.

Publicly, their father projected an image of someone who had some run-ins with the police but turned his life around to become a good father and citizen. In January 2006, when Hernandez was 16, Dennis died from complications from hernia surgery. According to his mother, Hernandez was heavily affected by his father's death, and he acted out his grief by rebelling against authority figures. Those who knew him said he never got over his father's death.

Hernandez became estranged from his mother, and largely moved in with Tanya Singleton, his older cousin. Following Dennis' death, the family learned that Terri Hernandez and Singleton's husband, Jeff Cummings, had been having an extramarital affair. After the affair became public, Singleton and Cummings divorced, and Cummings moved in with Terri. This "enraged" Hernandez. It was while he was living with Singleton that Hernandez became more involved in criminal activity.

In a jailhouse conversation, Hernandez accused his mother, Terri, of failing to obtain medication for his ADHD, which he said caused him to struggle in school. In another call, he told her, "There are so many things I would love to talk to you [about], so you can know me as a person. But I never could tell you. And you're gonna die without even knowing your son."

According to Hernandez's brother D.J., Hernandez was also sexually molested as a child. A teenage boy in his babysitter's house forced Hernandez to perform oral sex on him beginning when Hernandez was six years old and continuing for several years.

High school

Hernandez attended Bristol Central High School, where he played for the Bristol Rams football team. He was also an exceptional basketball player and track runner. He started as a wide receiver before becoming a tight end, and also played defensive end. As a senior, he was Connecticut's Gatorade Football Player of the Year after making 67 receptions for 1,807 yards and 24 touchdowns on offense and 72 tackles, twelve sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and four blocked kicks on defense. He was also a US Army All-American.

The 1,807 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns were state records. Hernandez's 31 career touchdowns tied the state record. He also set the state record for receiving yards in a single game with 376, the seventh-best in national high school history; he set a national high school record for yards receiving per game with 180.7. Hernandez was considered the top tight-end recruit in 2007 by Scout.com. He was not known for working hard as a child but, by high school, when he was nearly 6'2" tall, he worked harder than anyone else on the team. During one game in 2006, Hernandez took a blindside hit to the head so hard that he was knocked out cold. An ambulance had to take him off the field.

Hernandez was popular in school. He first began dating his future fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, during high school. The two had known each other since elementary school. He also smoked a large quantity of marijuana, smoking before school, practices, and games His social life included "a sizable amount of drinking" in addition to the marijuana.

College career

Recruitment

At first, Hernandez committed to play at the University of Connecticut with his brother D.J., but later chose to play for the University of Florida under head coach Urban Meyer. Meyer flew to Connecticut and convinced Hernandez's principal to allow him to graduate more than a semester early. This allowed Hernandez to move to Florida, join the team, and learn the playbook shortly after his 17th birthday. The Boston Globe later opined:

There was no way, except physically, he was ready for this. The young man who came to Gainesville wasn't academically prepared or emotionally grounded for college life, according to previously undisclosed college records and recordings of phone calls Hernandez later made from jail. He had graduated high school more than a semester early—not because he was a great student but because he was a great football player. ... The athletic gifts were obvious, but behind them was an angry teenager struggling with an abusive upbringing, a growing dependence on drugs, and questions about his own sexual identity.

Meyer was aided in the recruitment by Steve Addazio, a Connecticut native, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Addazio and Meyer told Hernandez that they believed he had the potential to play in the National Football League (NFL). Hernandez's principal later said that the two were persuasive and heavily pressured Hernandez, but in retrospect that it was a mistake to allow him to graduate early.

Hernandez was not academically prepared for college and had to take remedial courses at Santa Fe Community College. Many of his teammates, particularly those whom Meyer convinced to come to Gainesville early, did likewise.

Florida Gators football

Between practices, games, team meetings, and other events, Hernandez put 40 to 60 hours a week into football, nearly year-round. As a freshman in 2007, Hernandez started three games for the Florida Gators. He finished the season with nine receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Though he excelled his freshman year, he was benched in the season opener of his sophomore year due to a failed drug test. Following that, he started eleven of thirteen games during the 2008 season in place of the injured Cornelius Ingram, and finished the season with 34 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns. In the 2009 BCS National Championship Game against the Oklahoma Sooners, Hernandez led the Gators in receiving yards with 57 on five receptions, as the Gators defeated the Sooners 24–14 to win their second BCS championship in three seasons.

As a junior in 2009, and after leading the team in receptions with 68 for 850 yards and five touchdowns, Hernandez won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end. He was also a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and was recognized as a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, College Football News, and The Sporting News. During his final game, he threw the ball into the stands to celebrate a touchdown. The excessive display risked a personal foul penalty, but sportswriters saw an athlete with little to lose personally if he chose to go into the NFL instead of returning for another year of collegiate football.

Hernandez later said that he was high on drugs every time he took the field. Meyer had wanted to remove Hernandez from the team for his chronic marijuana use, but relented after an appeal from Tebow. However, after Hernandez's junior year, Meyer told him that he would not be welcome back for a fourth year, and that he would have to try to get picked up by a professional team in the 2010 NFL draft. Hernandez finished his college career with 111 receptions for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Off the field

Hernandez was always trying to be "the life of the party", according to a teammate. His classes his first year included bowling, theater appreciation, wildlife issues, and a course entitled "plants, gardening and you". During his first semester, he largely earned Bs. He made the conference honor roll during his sophomore year, but as a junior got a D in a class on poverty and did not complete his second attempt at an introductory statistics class.

Meyer later said that he found Hernandez to be "a distressed person" when he arrived on campus and tried to steer him in the right direction. Florida coaches aligned Hernandez with Maurkice and Mike Pouncey. He reportedly grew close with the twins after rooming with them and staff considered the Pounceys a positive influence on Hernandez.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On January 6, 2010, Hernandez announced his decision to forgo his senior year and enter the draft. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine, but was unable to perform any physical drills after tearing a muscle in his back during the offseason. On March 17, 2010, Hernandez participated at Florida's pro day and performed all of the combine drills. His time in the 40-yard dash would have ranked fourth among all tight ends at the NFL Combine. Hernandez also performed 30 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press and would have been the top performance of all tight ends, surpassing Dennis Pitta's top performance of 27 repetitions.

NFL analyst Mike Mayock stated that "off the field concerns" and concerns over Hernandez' physical size were causing his draft stock to plummet, but believed that Hernandez would still be drafted in the second round. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, he was projected to be a second round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the third best tight end prospect in the draft by Bleacher Report, was ranked the fourth best tight end by Mayock, and was ranked the fifth best tight end by DraftScout.com.

Draft and signing

The New England Patriots selected Hernandez in the fourth round (113th overall) of the 2010 NFL draft. The previous day, the Patriots drafted Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski. Hernandez was the sixth tight end drafted in 2010. Despite him being considered a top tight end prospect, multiple teams reportedly chose not to draft him because "he was a problem".

Hernandez's draft stock plummeted due to multiple off-the-field issues during college, rumors of multiple failed drug tests, and character concerns. Multiple teams elected to remove Hernandez from their draft boards entirely due to character concerns, including the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, and Miami Dolphins. Hernandez received the lowest possible score in "social maturity" in a pre-draft report. The Patriots signed free agent Alge Crumpler and drafted Hernandez and Gronkowski after they overhauled the tight end position by releasing Benjamin Watson and opting to not re-sign Chris Baker and backup Michael Matthews.

On April 27, 2010, The Boston Globe reported from multiple sources that Hernandez admitted to scouts and team representatives during interviews at the NFL Combine that he had a history of marijuana use and had failed multiple drug tests while in college. Later that day, the Patriots released a statement from Hernandez, who said that he had failed only one drug test while in college and was candid about it to interested teams at the NFL Combine. He wrote a letter to every team, offering to be tested every other week during his rookie season. Patriots owner Robert Kraft later said, after Hernandez's arrest, that the Patriots drafted him after he gained their trust and said they had "absolutely nothing to worry about" in a letter sent to Patriots Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio before the draft.

On June 8, 2010, the Patriots signed Hernandez to a four-year, $2.37 million contract that included a signing bonus of $200,000. The terms of his contract limited Hernandez's signing bonus to $200,000, which was less than half the signing bonus received by Patriots' fourth-round pick (118th overall) placekicker Stephen Gostkowski in 2006. The Patriots declined to give Hernandez the expected $500,000 signing bonus as a precautionary measure. To compensate for the smaller signing bonus, he received a contract that included a series of roster and workout bonuses up to an additional $700,000. If Hernandez reached all bonuses and escalators he could receive an annual salary comparable to a third-rounder, but would have to "walk the straight and narrow line to do so".

2010

Throughout training camp, Hernandez competed to be a starting tight end against Crumpler, Gronkowski, and Rob Myers. Hernandez had an impressive preseason alongside Gronkowski. Their preseason performance would ultimately foreshadow their future success as one of the top tight end tandems in league history. Head coach Bill Belichick named Hernandez the third tight end on the Patriots depth chart, behind Crumpler and Gronkowski. Hernandez was used as the receiving tight end option with Crumpler inserted for plays that required blocking. Hernandez started the 2010 season as the youngest player on any active roster in the NFL.

Hernandez made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Patriots' season-opener against the Bengals and recorded one reception for 45-yards during their 38–24 victory. On September 19, 2010, he made six receptions for a total of 101 receiving yards during the Patriots' 28–14 loss at the New York Jets in Week 2. Hernandez became the youngest player since 1960 to have more than 100 receiving yards in a single game. In Week 3, Hernandez led all Patriots receivers with six catches for 65-yards during a 38–30 win against the Buffalo Bills. He also had his first career carry for a three-yard gain against the Bills in Week 3. On November 7, 2010, Hernandez caught five passes for 48-yards and scored the first two touchdowns of his career during a 34–14 loss at the Cleveland Browns in Week 9. He caught his first career touchdown on a two-yard pass by Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady during the second quarter. His second touchdown of the game was scored on a one-yard pass by Brady in the fourth quarter.

On December 19, 2010, Hernandez made four catches for 31-yards and caught two touchdown passes in the Patriots' 31–27 win against the Green Bay Packers in Week 15. His two-touchdown performance earned him the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week. Hernandez was inactive for the last two games of the regular season (Weeks 16–17) due to a hip injury. He finished his rookie season in 2010 with 45 receptions for 563 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions over 14 games with seven starts. Hernandez and Gronkowski began having success as Belichick increased the use of two-tight end sets to capitalize on their exceptional receiving ability. Together, they combined for 87 receptions for 1,109 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns.

The Patriots finished the 2010 season first in the AFC East with a 14–2 record and earned a first round bye. On January 16, 2011, Hernandez started in his first career playoff game and caught one pass for a four-yard gain as the Patriots lost 28–21 against the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Round.

2011

On February 21, 2011, it was reported that Hernandez had undergone hip surgery after injuring it in Week 15. He entered training camp slated as a backup tight end and competed to be the secondary tight end against Crumpler and Lee Smith.

During training camp, wide receiver Chad Johnson arrived in a trade from the Bengals. Hernandez immediately let Johnson, who then legally had the last name "Ochocinco" based on his uniform number, have the No. 85, choosing to go back to his college number of No. 81, which was worn in 2010 by wide receiver Randy Moss, but became available after Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2010. Johnson and Hernandez both claimed no compensation was arranged and the transaction was a kind gesture between teammates and nothing more. Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, claimed Hernandez saw an opportunity after the arrival of Johnson and offered No. 85 to Johnson for $75,000. It was claimed by Baez that Johnson countered with a $50,000 offer that Hernandez accepted. The money was reportedly used to finance a wholesale marijuana purchase by Hernandez for his cousin's husband, T.L. Singleton, who later paid Hernandez back $120,000 for the loan.

Belichick named Hernandez the secondary starting tight end to start the regular season, alongside primary tight end Gronkowski. Belichick continued to increase the use of the Patriots "12 personnel" and began using Hernandez as an H-back lined up in the slot to dictate pass coverages. He started in the Patriots' 2011 season-opener at the Dolphins and caught seven passes for 103-yards and scored on a one-yard touchdown pass by Brady during the third quarter of a 38–24 victory. The following week, Hernandez made seven receptions for 62-yards and a touchdown before exiting in the third quarter of the Patriots' 35–21 win against the San Diego Chargers due to a knee injury. He was diagnosed with a sprained MCL and was inactive for the next two games (Weeks 3–4). On December 19, 2011, Hernandez caught a season-high nine passes for 129 receiving yards and scored one touchdown during a 41–23 victory at the Denver Broncos in Week 15. On December 28, 2011, it was announced he was voted to the 2012 Pro Bowl as an alternate. Hernandez was perceived as a snub for the Pro Bowl by many analysts who argued he was more deserving than San Diego Chargers' tight end Antonio Gates. He finished the season with a career-high 79 receptions for 910 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions in 14 games and 12 starts. Hernandez ranked 15th among all players in receptions in 2011 and fifth among tight ends. New England Patriots' wide receiver Wes Welker finished first in the league with 122 receptions and Gronkowski finished fifth among all players with 90 total receptions in 2011. Hernandez also finished 31st in the league with 910 receiving yards and tied for 21st with seven touchdown receptions.

According to NBC Sports, Hernandez and Gronkowski were the first pair of tight-ends in NFL history to catch at least five touchdowns each in consecutive seasons for the same team. In 2011, they also set NFL records for yardage, receptions, and touchdowns by tight ends on one team, combining for 169 receptions, 2,237 yards, and 24 touchdowns. The previous records for receptions and yards by multiple tight ends on a single team were set in 1984 by the San Diego Chargers, who used four tight ends to combine for 163 receptions and 1,927 yards; the success of the Hernandez-Gronkowski tandem revolutionized the tight end position. Multiple teams attempted to recreate the success of the Patriots' "12 Personnel" that used two-tight end sets. Hernandez was considered to be the top H-Back in the league in 2011 and the tandem of Hernandez and Gronkowski widely regarded as one of the top offensive tandems in the league. The combination of Hernandez and Gronkowski tied for the most touchdown receptions in 2011 with the Green Bay Packers' wide receiver tandem of Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings. They also had the most receptions of any offensive tandem in 2011 and finished fourth in receiving yards among all offensive tandems. Hernandez and Gronkowski were by far the top tight end combination in 2011. Their 2,237 receiving yards finished first among all tight end tandems in 2011 with the Carolina Panthers' tight end combination of Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen coming in second with 995 combined receiving yards.

The Patriots finished first in the AFC East with a 13–3 record and earned a first round bye. On January 14, 2012, Hernandez made four receptions for 55-yards and one touchdown in the Patriots' 45–10 win against the Broncos in the AFC Divisional Round. Hernandez also had a 42-yard carry against the Broncos on the Patriots' first offensive drive of the game. The following week, the Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23–20 in the AFC Championship Game. Hernandez caught seven passes for 66 receiving yards during the game. On February 5, 2012, Hernandez started in Super Bowl XLVI and caught eight passes for 67-yards and made a 12-yard touchdown reception as the Patriots lost 21–17 to the New York Giants.

2012

On August 27, 2012, the Patriots signed Hernandez to a five-year, $39.58 million contract extension that included $15.95 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $12.50 million. The $12.5 million signing bonus was the largest signing bonus ever received by an NFL tight end. His $40 million total was the second-largest contract extension ever given to a tight end, after teammate Gronkowski's $53 million. Hernandez gave $50,000 of that bonus to a charity named for the late wife of the Patriots owner.

 

Hernandez was sidelined during the Patriots' Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals with a high ankle sprain and missed several weeks. On December 10, during the Monday Night Football game against the Houston Texans, Hernandez recorded eight receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns.

Hernandez's last NFL appearance was the 2012 AFC Championship game on January 20, 2013, against the Baltimore Ravens, where he had nine catches for 83 yards and a touchdown in the 28–13 loss.

Relationship with the team

Hernandez was not popular with his teammates, and had few friends in the locker room. According to one of his teammates, he seemed to enjoy being an outcast on the team. Brady was overheard after a game telling Tim Tebow, Hernandez's quarterback in college, that he was trying to steer Hernandez in the right direction but called him "a lot to handle". Tebow had previously tried to help Hernandez and enlisted Brady for the same purpose. Hernandez was, however, known as one of the hardest working members of the team.

Other Patriots said that Hernandez was often seeking attention and at times seemed "unhinged". Belichick was running out of patience with Hernandez by June 2013 and intended to notify the front office to have Hernandez released from the team. After his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Belichick prohibited Hernandez's name from being spoken in the locker room. Gronkowski repeatedly declined to answer any questions about Hernandez in interviews and nearly walked out during a CBS interview in 2013 until the reporter agreed to change the subject away from his former teammate.

In one of his letters sent from his time in prison, Hernandez disparaged Kraft as "fake-ass non-loyal" but expressed admiration for several of his teammates. He was the closest with Brady, he said, and also friendly with Julian Edelman and Deion Branch. He also called Gronkowski "the BEST TE ever to walk on a football field".

Legal issues

Hernandez had a number of run-ins with the law throughout his life, beginning just a few months after he arrived in Florida as a pre-freshman. By his own admission, Hernandez became jumpy in nightclubs, and had a history of taking offense at minor slights. He also said that he believed people were trying to physically challenge him and were looking to fight him.

Acquaintances described Hernandez as a follower who put himself in jeopardy by hanging out with a dangerous crowd. As a Patriot, Hernandez hired two of his friends from Bristol, both of whom had criminal records, as assistants. One of them, Alexander S. Bradley, was his drug dealer. As Hernandez's assistant, Bradley's other duties included calming Hernandez down during fits of rage and paranoia, and obtaining weapons for him. After his death, his high school teammate said that being drafted by the Patriots "was the worst thing the NFL could have done" because it put him back into close proximity to the criminal friends he had in Connecticut.

Hernandez had a second apartment that was kept a secret from his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins. It was used to store drugs and weapons. He would often go there to chain smoke marijuana. In 2012, Hernandez told his agent that he got his respect through weapons. Boston Police detectives once questioned Hernandez outside of a local bar, but the circumstances around the interview are unclear.

While in prison, he told a fellow prisoner that he was a member of the Bloods.

2007 Gainesville bar fight

On April 28, 2007, according to a police report in Gainesville, Florida, a 17-year-old Hernandez consumed two alcoholic drinks in a restaurant with Tim Tebow, refused to pay the bill, and was escorted out by a restaurant employee. As the manager walked away, Hernandez "sucker punched" him on the side of the head, rupturing his eardrum.

The police responded at 1:17 a.m. Hernandez called Coach Urban Meyer, and Meyer called Huntley Johnson, the team's unofficial defense lawyer. The victim later told police that he had been contacted by lawyers and the team and that a settlement was being worked out, something the team denied. The police department recommended charging Hernandez with felony battery, but the incident was settled out of court with a deferred prosecution agreement.