The Aaron Hernandez Saga Continues

By - Brad Heerschop

The biggest story in the NFL (and possibly all of sports) this year is far from over, as news continues to surface in the roller coaster that has become Aaron Hernandez's life.

Photo by: Getty Images

As you probably recall, the New England Patriots released the tight end back on June 26th following his arrest earlier that day. Hernandez was later charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, whose body was found on June 17th near Hernandez's home. Allegedly, the former Pro Bowler committed (or at the very least, organized) the heinous act because Lloyd had been seen associating with individuals who were involved in an altercation with Hernandez at a nightclub not long before.

He was indicted on first-degree murder and weapons charges in the homicide last Thursday.

But wait, it gets better. If you're planning on waiting for the all too inevitable made-for-TV movie (insert name here; sorry, Scarface is taken), here is where one would yell "spoiler alert!"

On Tuesday, Rolling Stone Magazine announced that Hernandez will be the subject of an upcoming article entitled, "Gangster in the Huddle." When the full story is released, readers will learn that the ex-Patriot was a "heavy user" of PCP (Phencyclidine).

Apparently, Hernandez had gotten so paranoid in the last year or so that he was known to carry a gun with him wherever he went. Rolling Stone's contributing editor, Paul Solotaroff, also writes that Hernandez had isolated himself from family and teammates, preferring to associate exclusively with a "cohort of gangsters."

As per Solotaroff, New England head coach Bill Belichick was close to cutting ties with Hernandez prior to his arrest because of missed practices and what he called "thug-life stunts."

Furthermore, Rolling Stone reports that Urban Meyer, who was Hernandez's coach at Florida, assisted the tight end in covering up two failed drug tests. Add to that the cover-up of a drive-by shooting and an incident of assault during his college days, and it all starts to make sense.

Hernandez is a thug first, football player second. You would think a person could leave that life behind for the privilege of playing football at its highest level, but I guess he felt otherwise. People can go on and on about how stupid his actions have been and how irresponsibly he's behaved, but it's only fair to look into how this life took hold of Aaron Hernandez.

Both of his parents had criminal records, for reasons unknown. Hernandez's mother cheated on his father with a violent drug dealer, who then married her after the death of his dad. Shortly thereafter, the dealer moved in with Hernandez and his mom.

By no means does this justify what he's done, but for those of you looking for the sob story, the reasons he fell into this life in the first place are quite clear.

Hernandez will be arraigned on the murder charges on the 6th of next month, so stay tuned. This surreal story is probably just getting started.