04/18/24
June 26, 2013
Patriots Release Aaron Hernandez: The New England Patriots released Aaron Hernandez on Wednesday morning, a year after signing him to a four-year, $40 million contract. Hernandez will be arraigned on undisclosed charges today following the slaying of acquaintance Odin Lloyd, whose body was discovered less than a mile from Hernandez's home.
The Patriots must know to expect serious charges, given this move. PFT claims a source told them "expect the worst."
posted by rcade at 12:23 PM on June 26, 2013
I hate to say it because I believe in "Innocent until proven guilty", etc and hate the "When there's smoke, there's fire" logic Nancy Grace, et al have encouraged, but how the hell can it be anything but the worst? I don't know how you'd wind up connected to a murder victim, have trashed your phone and security system, rented a car that's thought to be involved and have neighbors saying they heard gunshots and manage to not be at the center of that web.
posted by yerfatma at 01:12 PM on June 26, 2013
I'll have what Nancy's having. /Patsfan
posted by dfleming at 01:32 PM on June 26, 2013
Nancy is holding the bottle too close to level. Cup's too small, too.
Don't study the flow, baby. Feel the flow.
posted by beaverboard at 02:14 PM on June 26, 2013
What kills me about this, is by waiving Hernandez, the Patriots have waived the right to recoup salary already paid to him, and are still on the hook for the rest of his contract. The next two years are a $12.5M hit the Patriots have to absorb against the salary cap. So Hernandez gets paid to (very possibly) do serious time.
What the hell is wrong with sports culture in the U.S.?
posted by NerfballPro at 02:42 PM on June 26, 2013
The next two years are a $12.5M hit the Patriots have to absorb against the salary cap. So Hernandez gets paid to (very possibly) do serious time.
Is there not a clause specifically for a player coming off the cap for a number of reasons, one of which is getting arrested?
posted by dfleming at 02:52 PM on June 26, 2013
So does anyone know if this is felony murder for participation or murder as in they think he pulled the trigger? As of now ESPN doesn't make that clear.
posted by feloniousmonk at 03:45 PM on June 26, 2013
Wow, he is probably done.
"McCauley said Hernandez summoned his two friends, then drove to Fayston Street in Boston's Dorchester section early on the morning of Monday, June 17, where Lloyd, a 27-year-old semipro football player, left his home, got in the car, and then rode south to North Attleborough.
Along the way, Lloyd alerted relatives in a text message, asking them, "Did you see who I am with?" After they asked who, he replied cryptically, "NFL," the prosecutor said.
"Just so you know,'' Lloyd added. It was the last text message he sent before he died, McCauley said.
In the North Attleborough industrial park where Lloyd was murdered, surveillance videos captured the men arriving in the same silver Nissan that Lloyd had gotten into in Dorchester, the prosecutor said.
Once near a wooded area, Lloyd started climbing out of the car, and was shot once, which knocked him to the ground. As he lay there, he raised his arm and was shot multiple times. Five spent .45-caliber spent shell casings were later recovered, McCauley said.
When Hernandez returned home around 3:30 a.m. Monday, surveillance video at his house showed him walking through his house holding a pistol in his hand, the prosecutor said."
posted by feloniousmonk at 04:30 PM on June 26, 2013
So does anyone know if this is felony murder for participation or murder as in they think he pulled the trigger?
A basic bar exam answer--From the circumstances in the boston.com article, I would think the charge is first degree murder. As a jumping off point, whether Hernandez pulled the trigger or not is inconsequential, as long as a conspiracy can be established. Co-conspirators are deemed to be responsible for every crime that takes place in furtherance of the conspiracy. That said, murder is the intentional killing of another human being with malice aforethought. One way to establish the malice is to simply show that the killing was intentional. 5 bullets tends to prove intent. Finally, the murder will be bumped up to 1st degree murder if premeditation is established. The fact that Hernandez and friends got Lloyd into a car and drove to a deserted, wooded area by an industrial park tends to show that it was premeditated.
posted by tahoemoj at 05:03 PM on June 26, 2013
It's first degree murder. You can find transcripts of the arraignment now. Earlier reporting just said he was charged with murder but didn't specify and that boston.com article was a blank stub.
posted by feloniousmonk at 05:12 PM on June 26, 2013
It sounds like a freaking mob hit. What a terrible crime.
posted by rcade at 05:16 PM on June 26, 2013
It really is unbelievable. It's like someone said "now that you're rich and famous you could get away with murder" and he took them literally.
posted by feloniousmonk at 05:18 PM on June 26, 2013
Hernandez attorney Michael Fee, arguing for bail, said the prosecution case was "circumstantial ... not strong."
Really? Reading the article made me wonder what took them so long to arrest him.
posted by tron7 at 05:18 PM on June 26, 2013
Remember Shannon Sharpe saying "We're killing the Patriots"? I'm going to have my boy Aaron give him a call.
posted by yerfatma at 05:33 PM on June 26, 2013
It's first degree murder.
So I passed that particular bar exam question, then. Hooray for me!
Also, I heard today that Hernandez' arrest was the 27th arrest of an NFL player since the Super Bowl in February. I'd like to point out that only 1 of those arrests was a Bengal, and it was Pacman Jones, who doesn't count because he's on a "get 5 arrests, get the 6th one free" program. Looks like the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets are leading the pack this offseason, but I think Hernandez is the trump card that wins the offseason so far for the Patriots.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:13 PM on June 26, 2013
"Also, I heard today that Hernandez' arrest was the 27th arrest of an NFL player since the Super Bowl in February."
It's too bad the NFL doesn't have a Fulmer Cup equivalent (who would you name it after, I wonder?).
In non-Patriot-related NFL murder news, a Browns rookie has been charged with attempted murder after punching a man in the head outside of a "gentleman's club". Also, he is no longer a Browns rookie.
posted by Bonkers at 06:43 PM on June 26, 2013
Also, I heard today that Hernandez' arrest was the 27th arrest of an NFL player since the Super Bowl in February.
Love that ESPN keeps running a bit about the NFL's "image problem" when Pros and Cons is 15 years old, which means I've been bothering people about it on Sportsfilter for (God help me) 11 years now. None of this is new and the fact people worry about "character issues" when someone gets busted for smoking weed is a joke. I think there was a chapter in that book devoted to players who had manslaughter charges before coming into the league (including a very talented USC product who played for the Pats for years who had a homicide charge on his juvie record if I recall).
posted by yerfatma at 08:41 PM on June 26, 2013
I keep thinking back to that Ray Lewis retirement party billboard here in Pats country. I drove past that sucker a couple of times.
The Ravens turned that ill-advised sign into a debacle, and now Hernandez has replaced Lewis as the face of NFL off-field violence.
posted by beaverboard at 08:42 PM on June 26, 2013
I thought Kevin Gilbride still had the face of NFL off-field violence.
posted by yerfatma at 10:36 PM on June 26, 2013
...Hernandez' arrest was the 27th arrest of an NFL player since the Super Bowl in February.
Dear Roger,
Kudos on the success of your player conduct policy.
--an NFL fan
posted by NerfballPro at 12:29 AM on June 27, 2013
Hard to blame Goodell or throw any of this on his conduct policy. If it becomes a situation where he has to ban current or potential players based on what they could possibly become involved with/in, then the league (and draft) will look very different.
Maybe it's as much a NCAA problem as a NFL problem. Hernandez came into the NFL with concerns about his personal affiliations; past involvement with gangs, etc. yet he was allowed to be involved with a college and its football program. His questionable associations and actions haven't all started in his couple years with New England.
posted by dyams at 07:14 AM on June 27, 2013
Maybe it's as much a NCAA problem as a NFL problem.
Time for a wiki leak from the Gainesville PD, which will not release details of the shootings of two men in 2007 (no one has ever been charged) because it's still an open investigation.
Every time I see a reference to Urban Meyer talking about running a clean program at UF, I feel like I just chugged 2 liters of warm Dr. Pepper.
posted by beaverboard at 09:37 AM on June 27, 2013
Hard to blame Goodell...
I go to DEFCON 2 every time I read those words but, yeah, I agree. I don't see what Goodell and the NFL could have done differently. You can't treat a guy like a murderer until he actually is one.
posted by tron7 at 10:13 AM on June 27, 2013
Looks like the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets are leading the pack this offseason ...
The Browns' owner also has legal problems. Fun times by the lake.
About Hernandez: yes, he deserves his days in court, but given everything that's come out so far, the least thing of which he should be guilty is utter stupidity in not "covering up his tracks." If he, indeed, was involved, he did a pretty crappy job in hiding that fact.
posted by jjzucal at 01:55 PM on June 27, 2013
I doubt a guy either contemplating or capable of plugging a person with several bullets would take his finger off the trigger due to concerns over the league conduct policy. Hernandez sounds like a menace to humanity who needs to be more concerned with the rules of the federal prison system.
posted by dyams at 01:56 PM on June 27, 2013
Hernandez is now apparently being investigated for two killings in Boston in 2012.
posted by LionIndex at 02:09 PM on June 27, 2013
You can't treat a guy like a murderer until he actually is one. posted by tron7 at 10:13 AM on June 27
A local radio host here was saying that Aaron Hernandez was likely in a gang and probably killed that guy because, 'have you seen all the tattoos he has!' I didn't realize people under the age of 60 were still scared of tattoos. posted by tron7 at 11:06 AM on June 25
Man, I'm having a rough commenting week.
posted by tron7 at 02:16 PM on June 27, 2013
During his first 24 hours in jail, Hernandez has been "polite and cooperative" and a "model inmate," Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson said.
So he's not a complete scumbag. Y'know, as far as [alleged] psychopathic borderline serial killers go.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:17 PM on June 27, 2013
To explain my above post, it wasn't an intention to blame Goodell as it was to point out that, perhaps any policy he's tried to implement has been ineffectual or even irrelevant. Even going through bounty-gate with the Saints you have to give him a degree of credit for trying.
So he's not a complete scumbag. Y'know, as far as [alleged] psychopathic borderline serial killers go.
As far as alleged psychopathic borderline serial killers with ties to gangs go.
posted by NerfballPro at 04:12 PM on June 27, 2013
He's now being investigated in a 2012 double homicide.
posted by rcade at 07:16 PM on June 27, 2013
A chewed piece of gum and fired .45-caliber casting were left in the rental car when Hernandez returned it. The gum was bought that night at a gas station. Hernandez offered a piece to the attendant when returning the car.
Super criminal, he is not.
posted by rcade at 10:02 AM on June 28, 2013
If you bought your Aaron Hernandez jersey at the Patriots Pro Shop, you can return it for a refund. No word on whether they'll turn a blind eye if you are sick of that Moss jersey too.
posted by yerfatma at 04:20 PM on June 28, 2013
Or, make a little scratch off that jersey. After all, nothing increases profitability like a murder or three.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:11 AM on July 02, 2013
Wow. I'm not sure if the Patriots know more than we do, but this does not look good.
Looks like the Patriots will be trying to get back to their roots this year by surrounding Tom Brady with an underwhelming receiving corps.