More on Aaron Hernandez (Rolling Stone)

[intlzncster]

I read "missed workouts" as in he was expected to be here and wasn't or his contract stated he needed to be at x number of workouts and he only made x-y workouts. Typically workout bonuses are structured as an all or nothing incentive. At least that is how they were when I had a (very distant) relative in the NFL...

If that is the case, and AH was missing workouts, why would the NFLPA be stating that the Patriots owe him money that he earned?

Gotcha. Didn't know it was an all or nothing thing. I thought maybe there might be either a prorata or type by type thing (eg. OTA bonus; offseason bonus; minicamp, etc...)

 

[intlzncster]

Im telling you, and I posted this as soon as this news broke. It was known in CT/Bristol that he was smoking dust, getting into fights in the off season following his rookie year. What the pats knew it didn't know I can't say. Im a HUGE pats fan, but as a player he,was paid to help win games and the kid was an awesome weapon on the field.

Ok, I could believe that. I just find it amazing that the rumors/news didn't make it into NFL or Patriots offices. I agree the Pats paid the kid because he's a weapon and to help win games, but Kraft isn't an idiot business-wise. At some point, you've got to feel your product is a ticking time bomb (or damaged) if you are privy to all the details. I'm not even speaking as a Pats fan. I feel that if Kraft was aware of most of Aaron's off field transgressions, he wouldn't have dropped $40 million so enthusiastically. I know that the Pats thought Aaron had gotten it together after his first year in the league or so.

 

[Pudge]

Read

I think the Rolling Stone article gave a pointed explanation why Patriot security didn't know Hernandez thug life. The hired a Brit. Previously, and with many other NFL teams, there were Ex Cops in that role. The Pats lost their inside knowledge of what their players were doing broadly. The signs obviously are all around AH.

I think it's a sad story. I think Florida was the wrong path ... Still. Her have been better off with DJ throughout.

 

[noeynox]

Spot on all counts Pudge. Going to play for Meyer who OBVIOUSLY covered up AH's early transgressions only caused him to become more brazen in his acts as he went along. Playing for Edsall at UConn he would have been force to shape up or sit/get kicked off the team. By all accounts DJ was a great teammate. Too bad all around. Meyer to me comes off really scummy. Going to bat to cover up crimes and failed drug tests to win games. Sad.

 

[StoweD210]

Read

I think the Rolling Stone article gave a pointed explanation why Patriot security didn't know Hernandez thug life. The hired a Brit. Previously, and with many other NFL teams, there were Ex Cops in that role. The Pats lost their inside knowledge of what their players were doing broadly. The signs obviously are all around AH.

I think it's a sad story. I think Florida was the wrong path ... Still. Her have been better off with DJ throughout.

I don't know if the article made it clear, but the Patriots made the switch from their former security director (the former state trooper) to the current guy (the Brit) in 2003.

If the switch was made more recently, like 2011, I could see the point that the new guy didn't know what to look for or didn't have the contacts and it contributed to Hernandez' situation. But a decade with a "normal" amount of legal troubles for an NFL team under the current security guy, that point doesn't carry the same weight.

 

[Skiblets]

As a Bristol Central alum, this story just continues to rip my heart out. But as someone that got the hell out of Bristol after college, it is not surprising to me that Aaron had a hard time shaking these thugs even if he were inclined to. There is a crazy peer pressure not to be successful growing up there, a "what, you're too good for us now" kind of thing. Even though I'm 20 years older than Aaron I know that still exists there. With his life and many others now ruined I keep thinking about DJ and hoping this doesn't hurt his careeer in coaching

 

[Adios]

Ok, I could believe that. I just find it amazing that the rumors/news didn't make it into NFL or Patriots offices. I agree the Pats paid the kid because he's a weapon and to help win games, but Kraft isn't an idiot business-wise. At some point, you've got to feel your product is a ticking time bomb (or damaged) if you are privy to all the details. I'm not even speaking as a Pats fan. I feel that if Kraft was aware of most of Aaron's off field transgressions, he wouldn't have dropped $40 million so enthusiastically. I know that the Pats thought Aaron had gotten it together after his first year in the league or so.

Maybe they were hoping the contract would give him motivation to straighten himself out.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

The one thing I find very hard to believe is that Robert Kraft new nothing al all about the lifestyle AH was living.

Kraft has a lot of state police and mass authorites working for him. Can't believe he didn't hear anything.

 

[dsturdy5]

Boston Globe's Ben Volin does some fact checking

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...tSOIslEC635PcROqL/story.html?s_campaign=sm_tw

 

[intlzncster]

Maybe they were hoping the contract would give him motivation to straighten himself out.

Possible, but that's a lot of money to hope for something like that. Doesn't sound like a Belichick way of doing business either.

And not to nitpick, but when does a big contract tend to straighten a guy out in professional sports?They are usually straightened out the year they are playing for the big contract, and then either keep it up or the money goes to their head. If the guy's such a risk beforehand, raking in a whole bunch of cash isn't likely to make him walk the straight and narrow.

 

[intlzncster]

The one thing I find very hard to believe is that Robert Kraft new nothing al all about the lifestyle AH was living.

Kraft has a lot of state police and mass authorites working for him. Can't believe he didn't hear anything.

Yet, if what the State Police and Mass Authorities had to say was all that damning, wouldn't they have stepped in as a matter of law enforcement prior to all of this? Again, there was not a peep from any authority, whether it be governmental, NFL, Patriots, media or whomever. Only word on the street.

 

[intlzncster]

I don't know if the article made it clear, but the Patriots made the switch from their former security director (the former state trooper) to the current guy (the Brit) in 2003.

If the switch was made more recently, like 2011, I could see the point that the new guy didn't know what to look for or didn't have the contacts and it contributed to Hernandez' situation. But a decade with a "normal" amount of legal troubles for an NFL team under the current security guy, that point doesn't carry the same weight.

Yeah, I wondered about that as well. It's not like British security is sh!te either. They have to deal with way more crap in professional sports than we do in the States. How many years on the job would it take this guy to figure out the game here and to make contacts? Two, maybe three?

That one doesn't pass the smell test to me.

 

[UCPusky]

As a Bristol Central alum, this story just continues to rip my heart out.

What year did you graduate BCHS?

 

[Pudge]

Yeah, I wondered about that as well. It's not like British security is sh!te either. They have to deal with way more crap in professional sports than we do in the States. How many years on the job would it take this guy to figure out the game here and to make contacts? Two, maybe three?

That one doesn't pass the smell test to me.

Makes sense to me.

The POINT was that this Brit did not build the network of Staties and local cops necessary to understand what these players are doing around Mass and NE. The previous guys knew just out of hand ... daily gossip. A good security routine would have picked up several of the AH misdeeds ... and probably have known about a bunch of others. It is a good point.

But ... not crucial. IMO, Bellicheck should have seen the way this guy interacted in a Team environment. Something was fishy at the core.

 

[superjohn]

Wow the article makes Terri Hernandez look terrible.

 

[Pudge]

Wow the article makes Terri Hernandez look terrible.

YUP

 

[intlzncster]

Makes sense to me.

The POINT was that this Brit did not build the network of Staties and local cops necessary to understand what these players are doing around Mass and NE. The previous guys knew just out of hand ... daily gossip. A good security routine would have picked up several of the AH misdeeds ... and probably have known about a bunch of others. It is a good point.

But ... not crucial. IMO, Bellicheck should have seen the way this guy interacted in a Team environment. Something was fishy at the core.

I'm not sure how much of the story is true or false. Here's Jonathan Kraft's response to the story. "Kraft also defended Briggs, who he clarified was not hired by Belichick to replace Frank Mendes." You could say he's just spinning, but a lot of what he says rings true.

Much of the Rolling Stone article didn't make any sense (RE the Pats and NFL at any rate). The more that I think about it, the more some of the 'anecdotes' sound ridiculous. For instance:

Kraft disputed that notion, adding that Belichick had denied that such a conversation had taken place.​

​

"It said that Aaron had told Bill that he feared for his life and that his life was in danger and Bill's response was to tell him to get a safe house and lie low," he said in a radio interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. "I actually saw Bill, I think I would've known if that had ever happened, but I saw Bill today and I said, 'Bill, did Aaron ever tell you his life was in danger?' and he's like 'Absolutely not.'"​

​

"If a player had told Bill his life was in danger, Bill would say we're calling [team director of security] Mark Briggs, we're calling the authorities," Kraft added.​

I just can't see Belichick telling a player to lay low and ride it out. I can't see any major player in any professional sports organization doing that. Kraft's comments about the contract make sense too.

Also, with all these "unnamed sources"....how many confidants of AH are reliable people (never mind not being bangers)? DJ? He sure as hell didn't contribute to this. Furthermore, a lot of these 'sources', if they are indeed accurate, are getting things 2nd hand (eg the BB combine conversation) from a guy who strung out on Angel Dust! AH is as trustworthy as Ryan Braun/Arod.

 

[intlzncster]

I read "missed workouts" as in he was expected to be here and wasn't or his contract stated he needed to be at x number of workouts and he only made x-y workouts. Typically workout bonuses are structured as an all or nothing incentive. At least that is how they were when I had a (very distant) relative in the NFL...

If that is the case, and AH was missing workouts, why would the NFLPA be stating that the Patriots owe him money that he earned?

See the link in my post right above this one for Jonathan Kraft's response to the story. Among several other things, he mentioned this RE the workout bonus:

Among the other elements of the article that Kraft disputed was that Hernandez had skipped out on team training drills this spring while in California. He noted that Hernandez participated in 25 of 33 of the offseason workouts, which fell short of the 90 percent he needed to receive an $82,000 workout bonus, which a source told ESPN's NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the NFLPA is looking to recoup.