Aaron Hernandez has been involved in a police investigation about the murder of an associate named Odin Lloyd and now that he has been arrested and charged with a crime, he was released by the Patriots and his future is now in doubt.
Due to his involvement in the case, some in the media have looked at Hernandez and compared it with past crimes from players, including the awful murder orchestrated by Panthers receiver Rae Carruth on his pregnant girlfriend. While Hernandez has not been implicated in the murder yet, many reports are troubling as the tight end supposedly destroyed his cell phone and home security system and also had a cleaning crew at his home.
The police searched his home and the surrounding areas and while they have some evidence, it appears not enough to execute a warrant for his arrest. Police were at Hernandez's house for hours over the weekend and also searched a pond and wooded area nearby his home, but so far no arrest has been made, while the media is camped out near the home.
Hernandez has been very productive over his three-year NFL career while paired with Rob Gronkowski despite dealing with injuries last season that limited him to just 10 games. He has missed 10 games over his career so far and he has made 175 catches for nearly 2,000 yards with 18 touchdowns. Hernandez gives quarterback Tom Brady a prime target in the middle of the field and his best season came in 2011 when he made 79 catches for 910 yards and seven touchdowns.
Depending on what happens with the case, Hernandez will go down on the list of NFL players that have been involved in serious crimes with the law, including Michael Vick, Pacman Jones and Jovan Belcher, as well as Rae Carruth, who was involved in a murder years ago. Carruth was found guilty of conspiring to murder his girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child at the time. Carruth hired someone to kill his girlfriend and was involved, as he stopped his car in front of hers, allowing another vehicle to pull alongside it and kill her. He later was found hiding in a trunk in Tennessee in his car after Cherica Adams died. Adams was shot and lasted long enough to call 911 and she fell into a coma, where she gave birth to the child.
Some have compared the two cases as they involved murders, but so far Hernandez has not been implicated in the murder. Reports say that the tight end was seen with Lloyd on the night of the murder and the connection of him dating Hernandez's girlfriend's sister also adds to the involvement of the two. Odin Lloyd was found dead a mile from the tight end's home and police said he was shot multiple times in an execution style homicide.