Player who was…

Player who was…

Aaron Josef Hernandez[a] (November 6,

1989 – April 19, 2017) was an American

professional football tight end. He played

three seasons in the National Football

League (NFL) with the New England

Patriots before being arrested and

convicted for Odin Lloyd’s murder.

Hernandez played college football with

the Florida Gators, where he was named

first-team All-American and won the BCS

National Championship in 2008.[4]

Because of concerns about his size and

off-field problems, the Patriots did not

take him until the fourth round of the

2010 NFL draft. Hernandez and

teammate Rob Gronkowski created one

of the league’s most dominant tight end

duos, becoming the first to score at least

five touchdowns in consecutive seasons

for the same team. He also appeared in

Super Bowl XLVI.

During the 2013 offseason, Hernandez

was arrested and charged for the murder

of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional player

who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s

fiancée. Following his arrest, Hernandez

was immediately released by the

Patriots. He was found guilty of first-

degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to

life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski

Correctional Center.[5] While on trial for Lloyd’s murder, Hernandez was also

indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado; he

was acquitted after a 2017 trial.

Days after being acquitted of the double homicide, Hernandez was found dead in

his cell, which was ruled a suicide. His

conviction for Lloyd’s murder was

initially vacated under the doctrine of

abatement ab initio because Hernandez

died during its appeal,[6] but was

reinstated in 2019 following an appeal

from prosecutors and Lloyd’s family.[7]

Hernandez was posthumously diagnosed

with chronic traumatic encephalopathy

(CTE), which has led to speculation over

how the condition may have affected his

behavior.[8]

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