Hello! My name is Karsyn Bennett and I'm currently a student at Salisbury University. I'm majoring in communication with a minor in marketing. I'm writing this blog for a sports communication class and I chose to focus on crimes professional athletes have committed either during or after their careers. I chose to do these topics because as interesting as the class has been, I've never had a real interest in sports in general. I played many sports in high school such as lacrosse, field hockey, and basketball, but I've never kept up with national sports.
My first post is going to be about the story of Aaron Hernandez. Aaron Hernandez played with the New England Patriots as a tight end from 2010 until his arrest in 2013. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft. He was known for creating a force to be reckoned with alongside teammate Rob Gronkowski. In June 2013 during the off-season, Hernandez was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Odin Lloyd played for the new England patriots semi-professional football team, The Boston Bandits, from 2007 till the time of his death June 17, 2013. Odin Lloyd was said to be dating the sister of Hernendez’s Fiance, Shayanna Jenkins.
The exact motive of the murder is still unclear. Some eyewitnesses testified to having seen Hernandez and Lloyd at a bar a couple of days before the murder took place. Hernandez was seen getting angry when noticing Lloyd talking to other people. He was said to have stormed out of the bar, returning with a handgun. It's alleged that this gun was used to kill Lloyd, but the murder weapon was never actually found. Hernandez was convicted of Lloyd's murder based on substantial evidence such as phone records, surveillance footage, and other evidence discovered at the crime scene. Lloyd's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds in an industrial park. Lloyd was last seen alive being picked up by Hernandez and two other parties who were later convicted of the murder. It was concluded that the three males picked up Lloyd, and drove him to the park, and Hernandez shot him three times, two being direct hits to the chest. Aaron was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hernandez was found dead in a cell four years after the conviction. The cause of death was determined as suicide, he was 27 years old.
The New England Patriots wasted no time when it came to dropping Hernandez. In other cases of professional player arrests, teams may go by “innocent until proven guilty” But the Patriots released Hernandez only a few short hours after his arrest. Aaron went to the team before his arrest and insisted he had nothing to do with the murder.
In 2017, an extensive examination of Hernendez's brain was conducted and revealed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) This is a brain disease that is linked to repeated head trauma, which is very common among professional football players. It is known to cause drastic changes in the behavior and personality of affected players. It’s speculated this could have played a role in the murder, causing the increased anger and violent behavior shown in Hernandez in the weeks leading up to the murder, but this was not used as evidence in court.
Do you think Hernendez committing first- degree murder can be attributed to the chronic traumatic encephalopathy found in his brain autopsy?
