Aaron Hernandez

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm not even going to post an article as there are so many angles to discuss on this one and I don't want to sway the discussion by posting any that promote a particular viewpoint. I'd rather let the discussion flow as it may.

It just seems like such an incredible waste of talent and opportunity that Aaron threw away to live the thug life. How did that happen? By all accounts, he grew up in a good, hardworking family.

*Disclaimer: Yes, I am from MA but I am not much of a football fan and am not gaga over the Patriots.*

I am mostly interested in this as a human interest story, but understand the football angle can't be ignored.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I'm not even going to post an article as there are so many angles to discuss on this one and I don't want to sway the discussion by posting any that promote a particular viewpoint. I'd rather let the discussion flow as it may.

It just seems like such an incredible waste of talent and opportunity that Aaron threw away to live the thug life. How did that happen? By all accounts, he grew up in a good, hardworking family.

*Disclaimer: Yes, I am from MA but I am not much of a football fan and am not gaga over the Patriots.*

I am mostly interested in this as a human interest story, but understand the football angle can't be ignored.

I think he was just an inherently bad person who happened to be extremely talented. He was involved in that life long before the NFL. It's a shame that kind of talent was wasted on someone like him. There are many people who turn to that life because it's all they know, they don't have other opportunities or don't have the skill or support to seek out other ways of life. He was gifted with talent so many others dream about but he'd rather be a pos criminal.

 

[DaisyJ]

I'm not even going to post an article as there are so many angles to discuss on this one and I don't want to sway the discussion by posting any that promote a particular viewpoint. I'd rather let the discussion flow as it may.

It just seems like such an incredible waste of talent and opportunity that Aaron threw away to live the thug life. How did that happen? By all accounts, he grew up in a good, hardworking family.

*Disclaimer: Yes, I am from MA but I am not much of a football fan and am not gaga over the Patriots.*

I am mostly interested in this as a human interest story, but understand the football angle can't be ignored.

He lived the thug life before football. He was a gang banger.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Sometimes people can't break away from that life. You can take the person out the hood but you can't take the hood out the person.

 

[prprincess]

It just seems like such an incredible waste of talent and opportunity that Aaron threw away to live the thug life. How did that happen? By all accounts, he grew up in a good, hardworking family.

I oftentimes wonder the same thing about people I grew up with. I was born and raised in one of the most dangerous cities in the US. And while I consider myself somewhat successful, I know of several people who grew up there with me and had way more advantages than I did, that I used to actually envy, but have turned to crime and drugs as well.

 

[Shmily1]

It's a shame for his victim's families that he had the opportunity to kill their loved ones. It's also a shame that he was given the NFL opportunity when so many others dream of it and never get it when people like him are taking up the position.

 

[wilkeliza]

I have no clue where he grew up or what his home life was like but dude just couldn't leave that life behind.

I do believe it wasn't a suicide but set up to look like one. No way he gets acquitted for two murders and then is found dead a few days later. That just doesn't add up.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I understand there were issues before he got to the NFL.

But was his bad behavior enabled by the NFL? Or football, in general?

 

[morgan98]

Sometimes people can't break away from that life. You can take the person out the hood but you can't take the hood out the person.

I think this sums it up quite nicely. The pull of his old life style and life of crime was somehow more appealing to him than the life of a talented athlete.

 

[sunshinehighway]

I have no clue where he grew up or what his home life was like but dude just couldn't leave that life behind.

I do believe it wasn't a suicide but set up to look like one. No way he gets acquitted for two murders and then is found dead a few days later. That just doesn't add up.

Why not? He was still serving life for another murder and had a few years added to that as a result of his last trial.
It's not like he was getting out.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have no clue where he grew up or what his home life was like but dude just couldn't leave that life behind.

I do believe it wasn't a suicide but set up to look like one. No way he gets acquitted for two murders and then is found dead a few days later. That just doesn't add up.

He grew up in CT in what was, by all accounts I've seen, a good family. His father and mother worked honest, but low-paying jobs. His father, uncle, and older brother all played football and were considered "local legends". Aaron had to work very hard at his three sports (football, basketball, and track) before he could hang out with friends. He met his girlfriend, who'd later become his fiancé, in middle school. They had a daughter together who is 4 now. (But apparently there was much infidelity with him even keeping a separate apartment, but his fiancé chose to look the other way about his cheating and a lot of other things. We could probably have a whole separate thread on her!) ETA his beloved father died unexpectedly when Aaron was 16 and he took it very hard.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Why not? He was still serving life for another murder and had a few years added to that as a result of his last trial.
It's not like he was getting out.

And as the result of some bad behavior/gang activity in prison.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I understand there were issues before he got to the NFL.

But was his bad behavior enabled by the NFL? Or football, in general?

No I don't think it was enabled by the NFL. I think he felt untouchable and being a big name athlete added to it.

 

[DaisyJ]

I understand there were issues before he got to the NFL.

But was his bad behavior enabled by the NFL? Or football, in general?

No, I don't think the NFL enabled his behavior. I think he thought he was better/smarter than everyone else and no one could touch him because he knew how to work the system.

 

[wilkeliza]

Why not? He was still serving life for another murder and had a few years added to that as a result of his last trial.
It's not like he was getting out.

Just seems like if he was going to do it over the 1st life sentence he would have done it 2 years ago when he first went in.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

He grew up in CT in what was, by all accounts I've seen, a good family. His father and mother worked honest, but low-paying jobs. His father, uncle, and older brother all played football and were considered "local legends". Aaron had to work very hard at his three sports (football, basketball, and track) before he could hang out with friends. He met his girlfriend, who'd later become his fiancé, in middle school. They had a daughter together who is 4 now. (But apparently there was much infidelity with him even keeping a separate apartment, but his fiancé chose to look the other way about his cheating and a lot of other things. We could probably have a whole separate thread on her!) ETA his beloved father died unexpectedly when Aaron was 16 and he took it very hard.

That's plenty of athletes. No news there. These women have, literally, millions and millions ($$$) of reasons to stay. If my husband was going to make over 100 million in his short NFL career (their careers aren't that long) I may look the other way too. I'm not even going to lie.

 

[rastahomie]

I swear, the NFL needs to make all of its new athletes take a class. As soon as the ink is dry on your contract, you're put in a classroom with all of your peers, and your teachers are current and former players. The syllabus looks like this:

1. Money Management: How not to blow your money and wind up broke.
2. Being a Good Person: If this most basic aspect of living your life is lost on you because of your upbringing, now is the time to talk about it.
3. Yes, The NFL's Drug Policy Is Stupid, But You Still Signed On To It: That means that you will get punished for smoking a blunt, even though the rule is ridiculous.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No I don't think it was enabled by the NFL. I think he felt untouchable and being a big name athlete added to it.

The reason I said that is because I guess he was a top draft choice, but he dropped down a bit because some NFL teams didn't want to touch him given lots of reported bad behavior when he played in college in FL. When he was 17, he sucker punched a waiter who escorted him out of a restaurant when he refused to pay his bill, which left the waiter with permanent hearing loss. There was also a shooting incident involving a group of him and his friends, he was the only one who would not give a statement after lawyering up, and there were reports of regular drug use. (It's not clear how he passed NFL drug testing.) He and his agent had to do some fast talking and make a list of agreements with the Patriots, including regular drug testing and loss of money if he got in trouble before they agreed to draft him. So they knew going into it he was trouble. As soon as he was charged with murder, they dropped him. But they had just renewed his contract for $41 million. Now, since he died technically an innocent man (because his murder conviction was on appeal and there is some law in MA that a person is innocent during this period), he will get some more millions in bonus money that was withheld before. (And lots of people are now fighting over whatever money is left, including the families of his victims.) Given that the person he murdered was the boyfriend of his gilfriend's sister, it's hard to fathom that he somehow thought he'd get away with it. (There are allegations he murdered this man to keep him quiet about the other murders of two men at a stop light in Boston after one of the men had bumped into Hernandez at a club that night and spilled his drink, the crime that Hernandez was acquitted of last week.) Yeah, it's a complex story.

 

[DizBelle]

I have no clue where he grew up or what his home life was like but dude just couldn't leave that life behind.

I do believe it wasn't a suicide but set up to look like one. No way he gets acquitted for two murders and then is found dead a few days later. That just doesn't add up.

A few days after his acquittal, he no longer would be leaving his cell every day to go to court and see people. He was facing the reality of spending all day, every day in his cell all by himself except for the little bit of time (I think 1 hour per day) he would be let out of his cell.

 

[nkereina]

I do believe it wasn't a suicide but set up to look like one. No way he gets acquitted for two murders and then is found dead a few days later. That just doesn't add up.

I've been hearing that from others I've discussed this with too. The timing doesn't make sense because his first conviction was in the midst of the appeals process, so there was still potential hope for him. However, when he was acquitted of the other charges last week, I read that his fiance and young daughter were in the court room and he broke down when he saw his daughter. She's young and did not understand what was happening, and started screaming and crying for daddy as he was being taken away. I imagine that ate at him afterwards, and may have contributed to this if it was a legitimate suicide.