The NFL is most profitable sports league in America and while many in the country love the sport wholeheartedly, the entire league is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons lately, giving way to the idea that there is an image problem after the arrest of Aaron Hernandez on murder charges as well as the arrest of Joe Lefeged on gun charges.
Those two arrests also came after Jovan Belcher's murder suicide from earlier in the year. The market for Aaron Hernandez football jerseys has surged since the former New England Patriot tight end was arrested last week on charges he gunned down his friend execution-style in an industrial park near his house.
A pre-owned 'On Field' NFL jersey bearing Hernandez's old number 81 was on offer on Tuesday for $2,000 on eBay, while an autographed Hernandez number 81 jersey sold for $1,525 earlier this week, according to eBay's auction history.
A similar autographed shirt went for $159 in April. Hernandez, 23, was arrested at his house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts on June 26 and charged in the shooting death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, who prosecutors say had angered Hernandez in a bar a few days before the alleged murder.
Prosecutors said Hernandez shot Lloyd five times, including twice while he was lying on the ground. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. The Patriots cut Hernandez from the team within hours of his arrest and the team later offered to allow fans seeking to distance themselves from him to exchange their official Hernandez jerseys for new Patriots jerseys of similar value.
Those who took that offer may now be regretting it. One new unautographed Hernandez jersey was on sale for $1,200 on eBay. Other Hernandez paraphernalia is running hot at auction too. An autographed football, signed photograph, or player card will run a buyer about $500 on eBay.
"This card is worth some serious money now," one seller said of his 2012 Topps Inception Hernandez player card.
Hernandez was brought in originally before 9 AM last Wednesday after speculation about his arrest and he was arraigned in the afternoon in Attleboro court, where the charges were made public, including murder charges and gun charges. Hernandez was denied bail originally and he is facing a possible life sentence for the murder and he is linked to the case through shell casings and other evidence.
Hernandez's girlfriend is connected to Lloyd as her sister was dating him and Hernandez now is facing murder charges for killing Lloyd. The body was found in an industrial park and while the prosecution feels that he is a flight risk, the defense argued that he is not. Police said that Hernandez destroyed evidence and told his girlfriend to stop talking with police and now another man has been arrested in connection with the murder.
Hernandez is now being investigated in the deaths of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston from last year and lawyers said that he has the potential and the means to be a flight risk. The state argued about the motivation for the case and that Lloyd and Hernandez had a disagreement about an incident at a nightclub and that could be the reason the murder happened.
Hernandez and Lloyd are connected through their girlfriends, as they were sisters, and the prosecution says they have video evidence of the two together hours before the murder and with Hernandez holding a gun. Gunshots were heard by people in the neighborhood and now Hernandez could be facing a life sentence with no chance of parole. Hernandez was also seen in footage with a .45 gun, which matches with the bullets found and casings near Lloyd's body that were recovered by police.
