Aaron Hernandez

Who was Aaron Hernandez?

Aaron Michael Hernandez was an American football tight end who was embroiled in controversy after being implicated in several homicides .

Hernandez played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a member of a BCS National Championship team and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, and was selected for the Pro Bowl following his second NFL season.

On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd, and was investigated in connection with other murders in both Florida and Massachusetts. He was found guilty for the 2013 murder of Lloyd (and sentenced to life in prison), but was subsequently acquitted in the Boston murders and exonerated in the Gainesville shooting. Hernandez maintained his innocence. throughout the proceedings. The Patriots released Aaron Hernandez on June 26, 2013, shortly after officers from the North Attleboro, Massachusetts Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police arrested him at his home.

Hernandez was found dead in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in April of 2017, having used bed sheets to commit suicide.

It was posthumously discovered that he was suffering from a severe case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - presumably due to repeated head trauma he received in his athletic career - which naturally posed speculation that this contributed to his erratic behavior leading up to an untimely death. The family of Hernandez requested that his brain be released to Boston University for study, whereby the CTE diagnosis was made.