Aaron Hernandez may never see a football field again — literally.
A few months after the New England Patriots tight end was charged with first-degree murder and cut by the team, a jail policy has wiped football out of his life entirely. While he’s staying at the Bristol County Jail, Hernandez is not allowed to watch the NFL on Sundays.
“While Mr. Hernandez and many other inmates would like to watch football, it is just not part of our policy here… so that will not be happening,” Sheriff Hodgson told TMZ .
Football probably isn’t too high on the list of priorities for Aaron Hernandez right now anyway. Last week he entered a not guilty plea for his charge of murdering former associate Odin Lloyd in June. Prosecutors claim that Hernandez and Lloyd had a disagreement in the days before the shooting, and Hernandez called on some friends to orchestrate Lloyd’s murder.
Hernandez was arrested June 26 after police led him from his home in handcuffs. At a news conference later that week, prosecutors laid out a strong case against Hernandez with a mountain of circumstantial evidence.
Though there is no murder weapon and no confession from Aaron Hernandez, police do have video showing Hernandez in his home with a gun shortly before Odin was shot. Hernandez was also seen driving Lloyd near where the man’s body was later found.
Aaron Hernandez could be losing his freedom and a whole lot more. He had just signed a contract extension with the team that paid him $40 million over five years.The Patriots have also come under fire for drafting Hernandez, whose behavior at the University of Florida already raised red flags for many teams.
After failing drug tests in college, Hernandez wrote a letter to the Patriots saying they could drug test him whenever they wanted. Aaron Hernandez claimed he was a new man, and had put his troublesome ways behind him.