Former New England Patriots stay Aaron Hernandez is the center of attention in Boston after he was arrested for the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd and now that he is in jail, his past has been scrutinized and shows that the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft missed some major warning signs.
Hernandez came from a hard background in Bristol where he grew up and now that he has been arrested, many have started looking closer into his past and some major issues have come up, including a shooting charge as well as failed drug tests and other problems at Florida. His past ties to gangs has also been looked at and he was seen in a picture with a Glock gun from his days in college as well.
According to USA Today, some of Hernandez's behavior from when he was a teenager until now may have been sparked by the death of his father, which happened when he was 16 in 2006. The report says that Hernandez started smoking weed more and hanging out with the wrong crowd and that was where the slips started. His Bristol high school teammates spoke about the shock they felt when they heard about the case and at the time, Hernandez helped lead the team to an 8-1-1 record while scoring 17 touchdowns and he also set records in receiving yards for the state.
Reports have come out about drug issues at Florida as well as gun problems, a shooting and other problems with his girlfriend and that all has added up to a troubled background for the star. The Patriots drafted him despite those issues and while Bill Belichick and the team may not have found all of it, they missed some major issues and now he is in jail. The team released him and clearly they made a mistake in giving him a $40 million contract and they now will also have to deal with a cap hit for his release.
At one point the tight end was suspended for a game at Florida for a drug test for marijuana and after heading to the Gators he also got into a fight with a bouncer at an off-campus bar. He was also questioned by police in a shooting and while he wasn't charged, all that added up over time and that is why he slipped in the draft. He appeared to clean things up after heading to the Patriots, but now he is in jail facing life in prison for orchestrating the murder of Odin Lloyd.
