Aaron Josef Hernandez[A] (November 6, 1989 – April 19, 2017) was an American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) and convicted murderer. A productive player during his three seasons with the New England Patriots, Hernandez's career came to an abrupt end after his arrest in 2013 and conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
Recognized as an All-American at the University of Florida,[5] Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Alongside teammate Rob Gronkowski, he formed one of the league's most dominant tight-end duos, becoming the first pair of tight ends to score at least five touchdowns each in consecutive seasons for the same team. He made one Super Bowl appearance in XLVI.
During the 2013 off-season, Hernandez was arrested and charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée.[6] Following his arrest, Hernandez was immediately released by the Patriots. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.[7] While on trial for Lloyd's murder, he was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, but was acquitted after a 2017 trial.
Days after being acquitted of the double homicide, Hernandez was found dead in his cell. His death 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,[8] but was reinstated in 2019 following an appeal from prosecutors and the Lloyd family.[9] After his death, Hernandez was diagnosed with severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which may have affected his actions and emotional stability, and been a contributing factor in some of his criminal behavior.
Early life
Family
Aaron Josef Hernandez was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and raised on Greystone Avenue.[11] He was the son of Dennis Hernandez, of Puerto Rican descent, and Terri Valentine-Hernandez, of Italian descent.[11][12] As an adult, Hernandez remembered his mother throwing his father out of the house on multiple occasions, but always letting him back in.[11] The couple married in 1986, divorced in 1991, and remarried in 1996.[11] In 1991, they filed for bankruptcy.[11] Hernandez would later state there was constant fighting going on in the home.[11] Both parents would be arrested and involved in crime during their lives.[11]
Hernandez had an older brother, Dennis Jonathan Jr., known as D.J.[11] Their father pushed them to excel, including through sports, but was often abusive towards both the boys and their mother.[11][13] 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.[11]
Hernandez's father died in January 2006, from complications from hernia surgery, when Hernandez was 16.[14] According to his mother, Hernandez was greatly affected by his father's death, and he acted out his grief by rebelling against authority figures.[15][16] Those who knew him said he never got over his father's death.[11]
Hernandez became estranged from his mother, and largely moved in with Tanya Singleton, his older cousin.[11] Following Dennis' death, the family learned that Terri Hernandez and Singleton's husband, Jeff Cummings, had been having an extramarital affair.[11][17] After the affair became public, Singleton and Cummings divorced, and Cummings moved in with Terri.[11] This "enraged" Hernandez.[17] It was while he was living with Singleton that Hernandez became more involved in criminal activity.[11]
In a jailhouse conversation, Hernandez accused his mother, Terri, of failing to obtain medication for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which he said caused him to struggle in school.[11] In another call, he told her, "There's 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."[11]
Abuse
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.[11] D.J. and Hernandez lived in constant fear of their father, but also revered him.[11][13] Hernandez once came to school with a black eye that his coach believed resulted from his father hitting him.[11] His father once punched Hernandez's youth football coach after a dispute about coaching methods.[11]
According to Hernandez's brother D.J., Hernandez was also sexually molested as a child.[11][13][17][18][19][20] An older child forced Hernandez to perform oral sex on him beginning when Hernandez was six years old and continuing for several years.[13] A college girlfriend said that "he never dealt with [the sexual abuse]. It led to issues in his sexuality."[19]
High school football career
Hernandez attended Bristol Central High School, where he played for the Bristol Rams football team. He started as a wide receiver before becoming a tight end, and also played defensive end.[21] 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.[21]
The 1,807 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns were state records.[11] 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.[22] He was not known for working hard as a child, but by high school, when he was nearly 6'2" tall, he would be working harder than anyone else on the team.[11]
During one game in 2006, Hernandez took a blindside hit to the head so hard that he was knocked out cold.[11] An ambulance had to take him off the field.[11]
Social life
Hernandez was popular in school.[11] He first began dating his eventual fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, during high school.[11][23] The two had known each other since elementary school.[23] He also smoked a large quantity of marijuana, smoking before school, practices, and games.[11] His social life included "a sizable amount of drinking" in addition to the marijuana.[11]
University of Florida
Recruitment
At first, Hernandez committed to play at the University of Connecticut[15] with his brother D.J., but ultimately chose to play for the University of Florida under head coach Urban Meyer.[11][24] Meyer flew to Connecticut and convinced Hernandez's principal to allow him to graduate more than a semester early.[17] This allowed Hernandez to move to Florida, join the team, and learn the playbook shortly after his 17th birthday.[17] The Boston Globe would later opine that
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.[17]
Meyer was aided in the recruitment by Steve Addazio, a Connecticut native, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.[17] Addazio and Meyer told Hernandez that they believed he had the potential to play in the National Football League (NFL).[17] 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.[17]
Hernandez was not academically prepared for college and had to take remedial courses at Santa Fe Community College.[17] Many of his teammates, particularly those who Meyer convinced to come to Gainesville early, did likewise.[17] 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.[17]
College career
Between practices, games, team meetings, and other events, Hernandez put 40 to 60 hours a week into football, nearly year round.[17] He would later say that he was high on drugs every time he took the field.[17]
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.[17] 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.[25]
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 given annually to the nation's best tight end.[17] 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.[24] During his final game, he threw the ball into the stands to celebrate a touchdown.[17] 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.
Meyer had wanted to throw Hernandez off the team for his chronic marijuana use, but relented after an appeal from Tebow.[17] 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.[17][26] Hernandez finished his college career with 111 receptions for 1,382 yards and twelve touchdowns.[27] 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.[28]
Academics
Hernandez was always trying to be "the life of the party," according to a teammate.[17] His classes his first year included bowling, theater appreciation, wildlife issues, and a course entitled "plants, gardening and you."[17] During his first semester, he largely earned Bs.[17] 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.[17]
Professional career
On January 6, 2010, Hernandez announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.[29] 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 reps of 225 lbs on the bench press and would have been the top performance of all tight ends, surpassing Dennis Pitta's top performance of 27 reps.[30][31]
External video
2010 NFL Draft Profile: Aaron Hernandez
NFL analyst Mike Mayock stated "off the field concerns" and concerns over his size were hurting Hernandez's draft stock, but believed Hernandez would still be drafted in the second round.[32] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Hernandez 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 his being considered a top tight end prospect, multiple teams reportedly chose not to draft him because "he was a problem."[23] Hernandez's draft stock fell due to multiple off-the-field issues during college, rumors of multiple failed drug tests, and character concerns.
After his arrest in Odin's death, it was discovered that multiple teams elected to remove Hernandez from their draft boards entirely due to character concerns, including the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, and Miami Dolphins.[36] The Patriots signed free agent Alge Crumpler and drafted Hernandez and Gronkowski after they overhauled the tight end positioned by releasing Benjamin Watson and opting to not re-sign Chris Baker and backup Michael Matthews.[37][38]
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.[39] Later that day, the Patriots released a statement from Hernandez, who said he had failed only one drug test while in college and was candid about it to interested teams at the NFL Combine.[17][40] He wrote a letter to every team offering to be tested every other week during his rookie season.[17]
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.[42] 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.[43] 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".[44]
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.[37] Head coach Bill Belichick named Hernandez the third tight end on the Patriots depth chart, behind Crumpler and Gronkowski.[45] 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.[23]
Hernandez made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the New England Patriots' season-opener against the Cincinnati Bengals and recorded one reception for 45-yards during their 38–24 victory. On September 19, 2010, he caught a season-high 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 Butfalo 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.[46]
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.[47][48] 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.[49] He finished his rookie season in 2010 with 45 receptions for 563 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions 14 games and seven starts.[50] 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.[51]
2011
On February 21, 2011, it was reported that Hernandez had undergone hip surgery after injuring it in Week 15.[52] 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 on 2010 by wide receiver Randy Moss, but became available after Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2010.[53] Johnson and Hernandez both claimed no compensation was arranged and the transaction was a kind gesture between teammates and nothing more.[54] Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, claimed Hernandez saw an opportunity after the arrival of Johnson and offered No. 85 to Johnson for $75,000.[54] It was claimed by Baez that Johnson countered with a $50,000 offer that Hernandez accepted.[54] 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.[54]
Belichick named Hernandez the secondary starting tight end to start the regular season, alongside primary tight end Gronkowski.[55] 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.[56] He started in the New England Patriots' season-opener at the Miami 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.[57] 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 he next two games (Weeks 3–4).[58] 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.[59] 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.[60] He finished the season with a career-high 79 receptions for 910 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions in 14 games and 12 starts.[59] 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 tight end Rob 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.[61]
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;[62] The success of the Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski tandem revolutionized the tight end position.[63] 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.[64] 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.[65][66]
The New England 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 Denver 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 New England Patriots lost 21–17 to the New York Giants.[67]
2012
On August 27, 2012, the New England 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.[11][68] 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 Rob Gronkowski's $53 million. Hernandez gave $50,000 of that bonus to a charity named for the late wife of the Patriots owner.[23][68]
Hernandez was sidelined during the Patriots' Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals with a high ankle sprain and missed several weeks.[69] On December 10, during the Monday Night Football game against the Houston Texans, Hernandez recorded eight receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns.[70] Hernandez's last NFL appearance was the 2012 AFC Championship game on January 20, 2013, against the Baltimore Ravens.[71]
Relationship with the team
Hernandez was not popular with his fellow Patriots, and had few friends in the locker room.[23] Quarterback Brady was overheard after a game telling Tebow, Hernandez's quarterback in college, that he was trying to steer Hernandez in the right direction but called him "a lot to handle."[23] Tebow had previously tried to help Hernandez and enlisted Brady for the same purpose.[23] Hernandez was, however, known as one of the hardest working members of the team.[23]
Other Patriots said that Hernandez was often seeking attention, and at times seemed "unhinged."[23] Belichick was running out of patience with Hernandez by June 2013, and threatened to throw him off the team.[72] After his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Belichick prohibited Hernandez's name from being spoken in the locker room.[72] Gronkowski has repeatedly declined to answer any questions about Hernandez in interviews, and has walk out on interviews when Hernandez's name was brought up.[73]
Personal life
Relationships
Hernandez began dating Shayanna Jenkins in 2007. They had been friends since they were in elementary school and were high school sweethearts. Their daughter was born in 2012[74] and they became engaged in the same month. Also that month, Hernandez purchased a $1.3 million, 8,130 square foot (755 m2), four-story home with an in-ground pool in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, where the family lived together.[23][75] Jenkins moved in with Hernandez in 2011, during his second season with the Patriots.[23]
After she discovered him cheating on her, Jenkins moved out but returned in the summer of 2012.[23] During Hernandez's trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd, it was claimed that Hernandez had flirted with and kissed the nanny who took care of his and Jenkins' daughter.[76] Jenkins testified in court that she wanted to make their relationship work, and that it required her to compromise on some of his behavior.[77] She told police that she cooked and cleaned and she knew her role.[23]
Following Hernandez's death, a high school teammate described a secret homosexual relationship between the two that lasted for years.[11] Hernandez's brother D.J., mother Terri, and attorney George Leontire report that Hernandez came out as gay to his mother and ex-girlfriend while in prison.[13][18][20][78] Leontire said his client "clearly was gay" and described the "immense pain that it caused him" and the self-hatred that came from growing up in a culture that was anti-gay.[19] After listening to more than 300 recorded phone calls, the Boston Globe reported that Hernandez was "prone to going on homophobic rants" and that, in one phone call, he admitted he was attracted to men and said it made him "angry all the time."[18]
Prosecutors threatened to raise the issue of his sexuality during the 2012 double homicide trial, a prospect that frightened Hernandez.[18][19] He wished to keep his sexuality a secret.[79] After Hernandez's death, Jenkins stated that she saw no indication that he was gay.[78][80] She said, "I wish I had known how he felt, just so we could have talked about it. I wouldn't have disowned him. I would have been supportive."[80]
Paranoia
D.J. described Hernandez as growing increasingly paranoid as an adult, believing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and others were out to get him.[13] D.J. said that Hernandez slept with a large knife by his bed and collected a number of weapons for protection.[13] After the 2013 shooting of drug dealer Alexander Bradley, Hernandez hired a friend from Bristol to serve as his bodyguard 24 hours a day.[72] Shortly thereafter, Hernandez approached Belichick "in a state of deepening paranoia," saying he feared for his family's safety.[23] Hernandez's agent testified that Hernandez requested the meeting because he was in fear for his life.[72] He said that Hernandez requested a transfer to a team on the other side of the country, but that the request was denied.[72]
Also in 2013, in April, Hernandez purchased a used car with two handguns and two rifles inside.[72] He also purchased a Chevrolet Suburban that had been outfitted as an armored car.[72] When being driven, he refused to travel in cars without tinted windows for fear that one of his enemies might see him.[72] Teammates said that Hernandez was prone to wild mood swings and became more agitated as time went on.[23] He was said to go from being hyper-masculine to talking about cuddling with his mother.[23] As a Patriot, he continued to smoke large quantities of marijuana and to use other drugs, including cocaine.[23]
Legal issues
In 2012, Hernandez told his agent that he got his respect through weapons.[11] After his death, his high school teammate and lover 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.[23] As a Patriot, Hernandez hired two of his friends from Bristol, both of whom had criminal records, as assistants.[23] One of them, Alexander S. Bradley, was his drug dealer.[23] As Hernandez's assistant, Bradley's other duties including calming Hernandez down during fits of rage and paranoia, and obtaining weapons for him.[23]
By his own admission, Hernandez became jumpy in nightclubs, and had a history of taking offense at minor slights.[72] He also said that he believed people were trying to physically challenge him and were looking to fight him.[72] Acquaintances described Hernandez as a follower who put himself in jeopardy by hanging out with a dangerous crowd.[23] Boston Police detectives once questioned Hernandez outside of a Boston bar.[23] Hernandez kept a second apartment a secret from his fiancée and used it to store drugs and weapons.[23][72]
2007 Gainesville bar fight
On April 28, 2007, according to a police report in Gainesville, Florida, 17-year-old Hernandez consumed two alcoholic drinks in a restaurant with 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.[17]
The police responded at 1:17 a.m.[17] Hernandez called Coach Urban Meyer, and Meyer called Huntley Johnson, the team's unofficial defense lawyer.[17] 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.[17] The police department recommended charging Hernandez with felony battery, but the incident was settled out of court with a deferred prosecution agreement.[81][82]
2007 Gainesville double shooting
On September 30, 2007, someone approached a car containing Randall Carson, Justin Glass, and Corey Smith on foot and fired five shots while they were waiting at a Gainesville traffic light after having left a nightclub. Cory Smith was shot in the back of the head, and Justin Glass was shot in the arm. Both men survived. Carson, a back-seat passenger, was uninjured, and told police that the shooter was a "Hawaiian" or "Hispanic" male with a large build weighing about 230 lb (100 kg) and having many tattoos.[83] He picked a photo of Hernandez out of a police lineup.[17]
The police told Meyer's personal assistant that they wanted to see Hernandez and two teammates immediately.[17] Detectives "kept pushing coaches" to bring the players to the station, but they did not arrive for four hours.[17] In the interim, the players spoke with Johnson, the attorney who often represented players.[17] The other players cooperated with police, but Hernandez invoked his right to counsel and refused to talk to police.[17][83] When police walked into the room to speak to Hernandez, the last of the players to be interviewed, they found him with his head down on the table and sleeping, a posture they said was unusual for someone in the middle of a homicide investigation.[17]
No charges were filed at the time but, due to his 2013 arrest and subsequent conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Massachusetts authorities contacted police in Florida to try to determine whether Hernandez may have had a role in the 2007 shooting.[83] Detective Tom Mullins, who was assigned to reinvestigate the shooting, concluded that Hernandez was not the triggerman. Although Carson initially identified Hernandez as such, other witnesses that night described the shooter as looking like a black male, possibly with cornrows. When Mullins re-interviewed Carson, Carson rescinded his statement of the shooter matching Hernandez and said he never saw Hernandez at the scene, but assumed he was the shooter because "they had words earlier at the club." [84]
2011 Plainville fight
At 3:45 a.m. on April 30, 2011, police responded to a fight in front of Hernadez's rented townhouse in Plainville, Massachusetts.[23] A high school friend had been pulled over earlier in the evening after driving Hernandez home from a Boston bar.[23] The driver was weaving in and out of lanes and traveling at 120 miles per hour in a work zone and on a highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour.[23] The Massachusetts State Trooper who pulled the car over did not arrest the driver because he recognized Hernandez in the passenger seat.[23] The Plainville police also recognized Hernandez, and told the two to go indoors.[23]
2012 Boston double homicide
Hernandez was investigated in connection with a double homicide that took place on July 16, 2012, near the Cure Lounge in Boston's South End.[72][85] Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, 28, both immigrants from Cape Verde and living in Dorchester, were killed by gunshots fired into their vehicle.[86] Witnesses testified that Hernandez's silver SUV pulled up next to the victims and someone from his car yelled "What's up now, niggers?"[86] Someone from the car then fired five shots, killing the two immigrants.[86] Police immediately identified Hernandez, who was then playing for the Patriots, in the club's security camera footage, but thought it was a coincidence that the NFL star happened to be at the club that evening.[86]
On May 15, 2014, Hernandez was indicted on murder charges for the killings of de Abreu and Furtado,[87] with additional charges of armed assault and attempted murder associated with shots fired at the surviving occupants in the vehicle.[88] The trial began March 1, 2017.[89] The prosecution case was strongly based on testimony by Bradley, a known drug dealer who had been feuding with Hernandez since the NFL player allegedly shot him in the face and left him to die.[18] Hernandez and Bradley each claimed the other person pulled the trigger.[86]
Jose Baez, Hernandez's attorney, argued that the proposed motive was implausible, and Hernandez was a suspect of convenience to close two unsolved murders.[90] Bradley alleged that Hernandez was angered after the victims spilled a drink on him at a nightclub several hours before the shooting and killed them in retaliation.[72] Security camera footage confirmed Hernandez was in the club for less than 10 minutes.[72] In that time he calmly posed for a photo with a fan, and left by himself — contradicting Bradley's testimony that he departed with Hernandez.[90] Furthermore, Baez characterized the police investigation as extraordinarily sloppy (e.g., the victims' bodies were kept in their bullet-riddled vehicle as it was towed away from the shooting scene, a major protocol violation) with no physical evidence tying Hernandez to the murders.[90]
According to the Boston Globe, there is "powerful evidence that he was at the scene and played a role in their deaths."[10] On April 14, 2017, Hernandez was acquitted of the murders and most of the other charges but found guilty of illegal possession of a handgun.[91]
2013 traffic stop
In January 2013, Hernandez and Bradley partied at Cure again.[86] At 2:20 a.m., Bradley was pulled over on the Southeast Expressway doing 105 miles per hour.[86] According to the State Police he was "wobbly drunk."[86] Hernandez tried to get his friend out of trouble by saying, "Trooper, I am Aaron Hernandez. It's OK."[86] Bradley was arrested for drunk driving.[86]
2013 Miami shooting of Alexander Bradley
In February 2013, Hernandez, Bradley, and several others visited a Florida strip club where they rang up a $10,000 bill.[72] Hernandez began to worry about two men sitting across from them, thinking they were plainclothes Boston police officers.[72] Bradley later recalled telling Hernandez that they were probably tracking the pair as part of their investigation into the double murder outside the Cure Lounge.[72]
Hernandez and Bradley had a troubled relationship at this point.[72] Bradley claimed that on February 13, 2013, during the same trip, he woke up in a car with Hernandez pointing a gun at his face.[72] The next morning police found Bradley lying in a parking lot and bleeding from a bullet hole between his eyes.[72] Bradley survived, but lost his right eye.[72] He did not cooperate with police, but instead sought revenge.[72]
The pair would trade more than 500 text messages in the next three months and would trade threats of death and extortion.[72] Bradley told Hernandez that he had "semiautomatic weapons, bulletproof vests, and a crew that ran six deep."[72] Hernandez's agent tried, unsuccessfully, to settle the matter quietly.[72] Bradley demanded $5 million to keep his silence, and Hernandez countered with $1.5 million.[72] Bradley then asked for $2.5 million.[72] Hernandez did not respond, but instead went to see his lawyer.[72]
On June 13, 2013, Bradley filed a civil lawsuit for damages against Hernandez in a Florida federal court.[92][93] Bradley withdrew the suit four days later, giving the two a chance to work out a settlement without the media knowing about it.[72][94][95] On September 3, 2013, Hernandez's lawyers filed a postponement request in federal court until his murder charges were resolved. They said it would be legally unfair to Hernandez to permit the lawsuit to continue while he was on trial in the shooting death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.[citation needed] In February 2016, Hernandez reached a settlement with Bradley over the lawsuit. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[96]
On May 11, 2015, Hernandez was indicted for witness intimidation in relation to the 2013 shooting of Bradley, since Bradley was reportedly a witness to the 2012 Boston double homicide. The intimidation charge for Hernandez carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.[97][98][99]
This charge was included in the trial that began March 1, 2017, for the 2012 Boston double homicide.[100] During the trial, it was revealed Bradley texted his lawyer this about the shooting in a deleted text message: "Now u sure once I withdraw this lawsuit I wont be held on perjury after I tell the truth about me not recalling anything about who shot me."[101]
Hernandez was later acquitted of the charge of witness intimidation by a jury on April 14, 2017. They also acquitted Hernandez of all other charges in the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, except for finding him guilty on one count of illegal possession of firearms.[102]
2013 California incidents
Hernandez traveled to California with his fiancée and their young daughter in 2013 to have shoulder surgery.[72] While there, Shayanna Jenkins called the police twice in less than a week, claiming that Hernandez was drunk and violent.[72] In the first incident, Hernandez put his hand through a window.[72] Hernandez's brother and friends later said that there were drugs and guns in the rented apartment, but police determined that Jenkins and the child were not in danger and never searched the premises.[72] D.J. found Hernandez alone on the roof of the building one night, looking defeated and rubbing the barrel of a gun against his face
Recognized as an All-American at the University of Florida,[5] Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Alongside teammate Rob Gronkowski, he formed one of the league's most dominant tight-end duos, becoming the first pair of tight ends to score at least five touchdowns each in consecutive seasons for the same team. He made one Super Bowl appearance in XLVI.
During the 2013 off-season, Hernandez was arrested and charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée.[6] Following his arrest, Hernandez was immediately released by the Patriots. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.[7] While on trial for Lloyd's murder, he was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, but was acquitted after a 2017 trial.
Days after being acquitted of the double homicide, Hernandez was found dead in his cell. His death 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,[8] but was reinstated in 2019 following an appeal from prosecutors and the Lloyd family.[9] After his death, Hernandez was diagnosed with severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which may have affected his actions and emotional stability, and been a contributing factor in some of his criminal behavior.
Early life
Family
Aaron Josef Hernandez was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and raised on Greystone Avenue.[11] He was the son of Dennis Hernandez, of Puerto Rican descent, and Terri Valentine-Hernandez, of Italian descent.[11][12] As an adult, Hernandez remembered his mother throwing his father out of the house on multiple occasions, but always letting him back in.[11] The couple married in 1986, divorced in 1991, and remarried in 1996.[11] In 1991, they filed for bankruptcy.[11] Hernandez would later state there was constant fighting going on in the home.[11] Both parents would be arrested and involved in crime during their lives.[11]
Hernandez had an older brother, Dennis Jonathan Jr., known as D.J.[11] Their father pushed them to excel, including through sports, but was often abusive towards both the boys and their mother.[11][13] 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.[11]
Hernandez's father died in January 2006, from complications from hernia surgery, when Hernandez was 16.[14] According to his mother, Hernandez was greatly affected by his father's death, and he acted out his grief by rebelling against authority figures.[15][16] Those who knew him said he never got over his father's death.[11]
Hernandez became estranged from his mother, and largely moved in with Tanya Singleton, his older cousin.[11] Following Dennis' death, the family learned that Terri Hernandez and Singleton's husband, Jeff Cummings, had been having an extramarital affair.[11][17] After the affair became public, Singleton and Cummings divorced, and Cummings moved in with Terri.[11] This "enraged" Hernandez.[17] It was while he was living with Singleton that Hernandez became more involved in criminal activity.[11]
In a jailhouse conversation, Hernandez accused his mother, Terri, of failing to obtain medication for his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which he said caused him to struggle in school.[11] In another call, he told her, "There's 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."[11]
Abuse
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.[11] D.J. and Hernandez lived in constant fear of their father, but also revered him.[11][13] Hernandez once came to school with a black eye that his coach believed resulted from his father hitting him.[11] His father once punched Hernandez's youth football coach after a dispute about coaching methods.[11]
According to Hernandez's brother D.J., Hernandez was also sexually molested as a child.[11][13][17][18][19][20] An older child forced Hernandez to perform oral sex on him beginning when Hernandez was six years old and continuing for several years.[13] A college girlfriend said that "he never dealt with [the sexual abuse]. It led to issues in his sexuality."[19]
High school football career
Hernandez attended Bristol Central High School, where he played for the Bristol Rams football team. He started as a wide receiver before becoming a tight end, and also played defensive end.[21] 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.[21]
The 1,807 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns were state records.[11] 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.[22] He was not known for working hard as a child, but by high school, when he was nearly 6'2" tall, he would be working harder than anyone else on the team.[11]
During one game in 2006, Hernandez took a blindside hit to the head so hard that he was knocked out cold.[11] An ambulance had to take him off the field.[11]
Social life
Hernandez was popular in school.[11] He first began dating his eventual fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, during high school.[11][23] The two had known each other since elementary school.[23] He also smoked a large quantity of marijuana, smoking before school, practices, and games.[11] His social life included "a sizable amount of drinking" in addition to the marijuana.[11]
University of Florida
Recruitment
At first, Hernandez committed to play at the University of Connecticut[15] with his brother D.J., but ultimately chose to play for the University of Florida under head coach Urban Meyer.[11][24] Meyer flew to Connecticut and convinced Hernandez's principal to allow him to graduate more than a semester early.[17] This allowed Hernandez to move to Florida, join the team, and learn the playbook shortly after his 17th birthday.[17] The Boston Globe would later opine that
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.[17]
Meyer was aided in the recruitment by Steve Addazio, a Connecticut native, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.[17] Addazio and Meyer told Hernandez that they believed he had the potential to play in the National Football League (NFL).[17] 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.[17]
Hernandez was not academically prepared for college and had to take remedial courses at Santa Fe Community College.[17] Many of his teammates, particularly those who Meyer convinced to come to Gainesville early, did likewise.[17] 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.[17]
College career
Between practices, games, team meetings, and other events, Hernandez put 40 to 60 hours a week into football, nearly year round.[17] He would later say that he was high on drugs every time he took the field.[17]
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.[17] 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.[25]
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 given annually to the nation's best tight end.[17] 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.[24] During his final game, he threw the ball into the stands to celebrate a touchdown.[17] 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.
Meyer had wanted to throw Hernandez off the team for his chronic marijuana use, but relented after an appeal from Tebow.[17] 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.[17][26] Hernandez finished his college career with 111 receptions for 1,382 yards and twelve touchdowns.[27] 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.[28]
Academics
Hernandez was always trying to be "the life of the party," according to a teammate.[17] His classes his first year included bowling, theater appreciation, wildlife issues, and a course entitled "plants, gardening and you."[17] During his first semester, he largely earned Bs.[17] 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.[17]
Professional career
On January 6, 2010, Hernandez announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.[29] 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 reps of 225 lbs on the bench press and would have been the top performance of all tight ends, surpassing Dennis Pitta's top performance of 27 reps.[30][31]
External video
2010 NFL Draft Profile: Aaron Hernandez
NFL analyst Mike Mayock stated "off the field concerns" and concerns over his size were hurting Hernandez's draft stock, but believed Hernandez would still be drafted in the second round.[32] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Hernandez 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 his being considered a top tight end prospect, multiple teams reportedly chose not to draft him because "he was a problem."[23] Hernandez's draft stock fell due to multiple off-the-field issues during college, rumors of multiple failed drug tests, and character concerns.
After his arrest in Odin's death, it was discovered that multiple teams elected to remove Hernandez from their draft boards entirely due to character concerns, including the Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals, and Miami Dolphins.[36] The Patriots signed free agent Alge Crumpler and drafted Hernandez and Gronkowski after they overhauled the tight end positioned by releasing Benjamin Watson and opting to not re-sign Chris Baker and backup Michael Matthews.[37][38]
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.[39] Later that day, the Patriots released a statement from Hernandez, who said he had failed only one drug test while in college and was candid about it to interested teams at the NFL Combine.[17][40] He wrote a letter to every team offering to be tested every other week during his rookie season.[17]
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.[42] 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.[43] 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".[44]
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.[37] Head coach Bill Belichick named Hernandez the third tight end on the Patriots depth chart, behind Crumpler and Gronkowski.[45] 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.[23]
Hernandez made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the New England Patriots' season-opener against the Cincinnati Bengals and recorded one reception for 45-yards during their 38–24 victory. On September 19, 2010, he caught a season-high 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 Butfalo 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.[46]
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.[47][48] 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.[49] He finished his rookie season in 2010 with 45 receptions for 563 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions 14 games and seven starts.[50] 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.[51]
2011
On February 21, 2011, it was reported that Hernandez had undergone hip surgery after injuring it in Week 15.[52] 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 on 2010 by wide receiver Randy Moss, but became available after Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2010.[53] Johnson and Hernandez both claimed no compensation was arranged and the transaction was a kind gesture between teammates and nothing more.[54] Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, claimed Hernandez saw an opportunity after the arrival of Johnson and offered No. 85 to Johnson for $75,000.[54] It was claimed by Baez that Johnson countered with a $50,000 offer that Hernandez accepted.[54] 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.[54]
Belichick named Hernandez the secondary starting tight end to start the regular season, alongside primary tight end Gronkowski.[55] 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.[56] He started in the New England Patriots' season-opener at the Miami 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.[57] 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 he next two games (Weeks 3–4).[58] 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.[59] 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.[60] He finished the season with a career-high 79 receptions for 910 receiving yards and seven touchdown receptions in 14 games and 12 starts.[59] 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 tight end Rob 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.[61]
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;[62] The success of the Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski tandem revolutionized the tight end position.[63] 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.[64] 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.[65][66]
The New England 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 Denver 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 New England Patriots lost 21–17 to the New York Giants.[67]
2012
On August 27, 2012, the New England 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.[11][68] 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 Rob Gronkowski's $53 million. Hernandez gave $50,000 of that bonus to a charity named for the late wife of the Patriots owner.[23][68]
Hernandez was sidelined during the Patriots' Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals with a high ankle sprain and missed several weeks.[69] On December 10, during the Monday Night Football game against the Houston Texans, Hernandez recorded eight receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns.[70] Hernandez's last NFL appearance was the 2012 AFC Championship game on January 20, 2013, against the Baltimore Ravens.[71]
Relationship with the team
Hernandez was not popular with his fellow Patriots, and had few friends in the locker room.[23] Quarterback Brady was overheard after a game telling Tebow, Hernandez's quarterback in college, that he was trying to steer Hernandez in the right direction but called him "a lot to handle."[23] Tebow had previously tried to help Hernandez and enlisted Brady for the same purpose.[23] Hernandez was, however, known as one of the hardest working members of the team.[23]
Other Patriots said that Hernandez was often seeking attention, and at times seemed "unhinged."[23] Belichick was running out of patience with Hernandez by June 2013, and threatened to throw him off the team.[72] After his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Belichick prohibited Hernandez's name from being spoken in the locker room.[72] Gronkowski has repeatedly declined to answer any questions about Hernandez in interviews, and has walk out on interviews when Hernandez's name was brought up.[73]
Personal life
Relationships
Hernandez began dating Shayanna Jenkins in 2007. They had been friends since they were in elementary school and were high school sweethearts. Their daughter was born in 2012[74] and they became engaged in the same month. Also that month, Hernandez purchased a $1.3 million, 8,130 square foot (755 m2), four-story home with an in-ground pool in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, where the family lived together.[23][75] Jenkins moved in with Hernandez in 2011, during his second season with the Patriots.[23]
After she discovered him cheating on her, Jenkins moved out but returned in the summer of 2012.[23] During Hernandez's trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd, it was claimed that Hernandez had flirted with and kissed the nanny who took care of his and Jenkins' daughter.[76] Jenkins testified in court that she wanted to make their relationship work, and that it required her to compromise on some of his behavior.[77] She told police that she cooked and cleaned and she knew her role.[23]
Following Hernandez's death, a high school teammate described a secret homosexual relationship between the two that lasted for years.[11] Hernandez's brother D.J., mother Terri, and attorney George Leontire report that Hernandez came out as gay to his mother and ex-girlfriend while in prison.[13][18][20][78] Leontire said his client "clearly was gay" and described the "immense pain that it caused him" and the self-hatred that came from growing up in a culture that was anti-gay.[19] After listening to more than 300 recorded phone calls, the Boston Globe reported that Hernandez was "prone to going on homophobic rants" and that, in one phone call, he admitted he was attracted to men and said it made him "angry all the time."[18]
Prosecutors threatened to raise the issue of his sexuality during the 2012 double homicide trial, a prospect that frightened Hernandez.[18][19] He wished to keep his sexuality a secret.[79] After Hernandez's death, Jenkins stated that she saw no indication that he was gay.[78][80] She said, "I wish I had known how he felt, just so we could have talked about it. I wouldn't have disowned him. I would have been supportive."[80]
Paranoia
D.J. described Hernandez as growing increasingly paranoid as an adult, believing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and others were out to get him.[13] D.J. said that Hernandez slept with a large knife by his bed and collected a number of weapons for protection.[13] After the 2013 shooting of drug dealer Alexander Bradley, Hernandez hired a friend from Bristol to serve as his bodyguard 24 hours a day.[72] Shortly thereafter, Hernandez approached Belichick "in a state of deepening paranoia," saying he feared for his family's safety.[23] Hernandez's agent testified that Hernandez requested the meeting because he was in fear for his life.[72] He said that Hernandez requested a transfer to a team on the other side of the country, but that the request was denied.[72]
Also in 2013, in April, Hernandez purchased a used car with two handguns and two rifles inside.[72] He also purchased a Chevrolet Suburban that had been outfitted as an armored car.[72] When being driven, he refused to travel in cars without tinted windows for fear that one of his enemies might see him.[72] Teammates said that Hernandez was prone to wild mood swings and became more agitated as time went on.[23] He was said to go from being hyper-masculine to talking about cuddling with his mother.[23] As a Patriot, he continued to smoke large quantities of marijuana and to use other drugs, including cocaine.[23]
Legal issues
In 2012, Hernandez told his agent that he got his respect through weapons.[11] After his death, his high school teammate and lover 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.[23] As a Patriot, Hernandez hired two of his friends from Bristol, both of whom had criminal records, as assistants.[23] One of them, Alexander S. Bradley, was his drug dealer.[23] As Hernandez's assistant, Bradley's other duties including calming Hernandez down during fits of rage and paranoia, and obtaining weapons for him.[23]
By his own admission, Hernandez became jumpy in nightclubs, and had a history of taking offense at minor slights.[72] He also said that he believed people were trying to physically challenge him and were looking to fight him.[72] Acquaintances described Hernandez as a follower who put himself in jeopardy by hanging out with a dangerous crowd.[23] Boston Police detectives once questioned Hernandez outside of a Boston bar.[23] Hernandez kept a second apartment a secret from his fiancée and used it to store drugs and weapons.[23][72]
2007 Gainesville bar fight
On April 28, 2007, according to a police report in Gainesville, Florida, 17-year-old Hernandez consumed two alcoholic drinks in a restaurant with 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.[17]
The police responded at 1:17 a.m.[17] Hernandez called Coach Urban Meyer, and Meyer called Huntley Johnson, the team's unofficial defense lawyer.[17] 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.[17] The police department recommended charging Hernandez with felony battery, but the incident was settled out of court with a deferred prosecution agreement.[81][82]
2007 Gainesville double shooting
On September 30, 2007, someone approached a car containing Randall Carson, Justin Glass, and Corey Smith on foot and fired five shots while they were waiting at a Gainesville traffic light after having left a nightclub. Cory Smith was shot in the back of the head, and Justin Glass was shot in the arm. Both men survived. Carson, a back-seat passenger, was uninjured, and told police that the shooter was a "Hawaiian" or "Hispanic" male with a large build weighing about 230 lb (100 kg) and having many tattoos.[83] He picked a photo of Hernandez out of a police lineup.[17]
The police told Meyer's personal assistant that they wanted to see Hernandez and two teammates immediately.[17] Detectives "kept pushing coaches" to bring the players to the station, but they did not arrive for four hours.[17] In the interim, the players spoke with Johnson, the attorney who often represented players.[17] The other players cooperated with police, but Hernandez invoked his right to counsel and refused to talk to police.[17][83] When police walked into the room to speak to Hernandez, the last of the players to be interviewed, they found him with his head down on the table and sleeping, a posture they said was unusual for someone in the middle of a homicide investigation.[17]
No charges were filed at the time but, due to his 2013 arrest and subsequent conviction for the murder of Odin Lloyd, Massachusetts authorities contacted police in Florida to try to determine whether Hernandez may have had a role in the 2007 shooting.[83] Detective Tom Mullins, who was assigned to reinvestigate the shooting, concluded that Hernandez was not the triggerman. Although Carson initially identified Hernandez as such, other witnesses that night described the shooter as looking like a black male, possibly with cornrows. When Mullins re-interviewed Carson, Carson rescinded his statement of the shooter matching Hernandez and said he never saw Hernandez at the scene, but assumed he was the shooter because "they had words earlier at the club." [84]
2011 Plainville fight
At 3:45 a.m. on April 30, 2011, police responded to a fight in front of Hernadez's rented townhouse in Plainville, Massachusetts.[23] A high school friend had been pulled over earlier in the evening after driving Hernandez home from a Boston bar.[23] The driver was weaving in and out of lanes and traveling at 120 miles per hour in a work zone and on a highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour.[23] The Massachusetts State Trooper who pulled the car over did not arrest the driver because he recognized Hernandez in the passenger seat.[23] The Plainville police also recognized Hernandez, and told the two to go indoors.[23]
2012 Boston double homicide
Hernandez was investigated in connection with a double homicide that took place on July 16, 2012, near the Cure Lounge in Boston's South End.[72][85] Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Teixeira Furtado, 28, both immigrants from Cape Verde and living in Dorchester, were killed by gunshots fired into their vehicle.[86] Witnesses testified that Hernandez's silver SUV pulled up next to the victims and someone from his car yelled "What's up now, niggers?"[86] Someone from the car then fired five shots, killing the two immigrants.[86] Police immediately identified Hernandez, who was then playing for the Patriots, in the club's security camera footage, but thought it was a coincidence that the NFL star happened to be at the club that evening.[86]
On May 15, 2014, Hernandez was indicted on murder charges for the killings of de Abreu and Furtado,[87] with additional charges of armed assault and attempted murder associated with shots fired at the surviving occupants in the vehicle.[88] The trial began March 1, 2017.[89] The prosecution case was strongly based on testimony by Bradley, a known drug dealer who had been feuding with Hernandez since the NFL player allegedly shot him in the face and left him to die.[18] Hernandez and Bradley each claimed the other person pulled the trigger.[86]
Jose Baez, Hernandez's attorney, argued that the proposed motive was implausible, and Hernandez was a suspect of convenience to close two unsolved murders.[90] Bradley alleged that Hernandez was angered after the victims spilled a drink on him at a nightclub several hours before the shooting and killed them in retaliation.[72] Security camera footage confirmed Hernandez was in the club for less than 10 minutes.[72] In that time he calmly posed for a photo with a fan, and left by himself — contradicting Bradley's testimony that he departed with Hernandez.[90] Furthermore, Baez characterized the police investigation as extraordinarily sloppy (e.g., the victims' bodies were kept in their bullet-riddled vehicle as it was towed away from the shooting scene, a major protocol violation) with no physical evidence tying Hernandez to the murders.[90]
According to the Boston Globe, there is "powerful evidence that he was at the scene and played a role in their deaths."[10] On April 14, 2017, Hernandez was acquitted of the murders and most of the other charges but found guilty of illegal possession of a handgun.[91]
2013 traffic stop
In January 2013, Hernandez and Bradley partied at Cure again.[86] At 2:20 a.m., Bradley was pulled over on the Southeast Expressway doing 105 miles per hour.[86] According to the State Police he was "wobbly drunk."[86] Hernandez tried to get his friend out of trouble by saying, "Trooper, I am Aaron Hernandez. It's OK."[86] Bradley was arrested for drunk driving.[86]
2013 Miami shooting of Alexander Bradley
In February 2013, Hernandez, Bradley, and several others visited a Florida strip club where they rang up a $10,000 bill.[72] Hernandez began to worry about two men sitting across from them, thinking they were plainclothes Boston police officers.[72] Bradley later recalled telling Hernandez that they were probably tracking the pair as part of their investigation into the double murder outside the Cure Lounge.[72]
Hernandez and Bradley had a troubled relationship at this point.[72] Bradley claimed that on February 13, 2013, during the same trip, he woke up in a car with Hernandez pointing a gun at his face.[72] The next morning police found Bradley lying in a parking lot and bleeding from a bullet hole between his eyes.[72] Bradley survived, but lost his right eye.[72] He did not cooperate with police, but instead sought revenge.[72]
The pair would trade more than 500 text messages in the next three months and would trade threats of death and extortion.[72] Bradley told Hernandez that he had "semiautomatic weapons, bulletproof vests, and a crew that ran six deep."[72] Hernandez's agent tried, unsuccessfully, to settle the matter quietly.[72] Bradley demanded $5 million to keep his silence, and Hernandez countered with $1.5 million.[72] Bradley then asked for $2.5 million.[72] Hernandez did not respond, but instead went to see his lawyer.[72]
On June 13, 2013, Bradley filed a civil lawsuit for damages against Hernandez in a Florida federal court.[92][93] Bradley withdrew the suit four days later, giving the two a chance to work out a settlement without the media knowing about it.[72][94][95] On September 3, 2013, Hernandez's lawyers filed a postponement request in federal court until his murder charges were resolved. They said it would be legally unfair to Hernandez to permit the lawsuit to continue while he was on trial in the shooting death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.[citation needed] In February 2016, Hernandez reached a settlement with Bradley over the lawsuit. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.[96]
On May 11, 2015, Hernandez was indicted for witness intimidation in relation to the 2013 shooting of Bradley, since Bradley was reportedly a witness to the 2012 Boston double homicide. The intimidation charge for Hernandez carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.[97][98][99]
This charge was included in the trial that began March 1, 2017, for the 2012 Boston double homicide.[100] During the trial, it was revealed Bradley texted his lawyer this about the shooting in a deleted text message: "Now u sure once I withdraw this lawsuit I wont be held on perjury after I tell the truth about me not recalling anything about who shot me."[101]
Hernandez was later acquitted of the charge of witness intimidation by a jury on April 14, 2017. They also acquitted Hernandez of all other charges in the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, except for finding him guilty on one count of illegal possession of firearms.[102]
2013 California incidents
Hernandez traveled to California with his fiancée and their young daughter in 2013 to have shoulder surgery.[72] While there, Shayanna Jenkins called the police twice in less than a week, claiming that Hernandez was drunk and violent.[72] In the first incident, Hernandez put his hand through a window.[72] Hernandez's brother and friends later said that there were drugs and guns in the rented apartment, but police determined that Jenkins and the child were not in danger and never searched the premises.[72] D.J. found Hernandez alone on the roof of the building one night, looking defeated and rubbing the barrel of a gun against his face
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