Every kid that has played any sport has the dream of making it to the pros and earning millions of dollars by doing what they love. That was the case for Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez was born November 6, 1989 in Bristol Connecticut. His family had football running through their DNA. His father was a star at Central Bristol High School and played collegiately at UConn. Aaron, however, was light years better than the competition. He was destined for great things. A few bad decisions and his life, his career, and his world was turned upside down.

Aaron was a star tight end at Central Bristol High School and had a scholarship offer to attend UConn at the age of 14. According to classmates he was not like the typical jock. He was kind and friendly with everyone and was the class clown. This all changed when his father died. After his father’s death, he felt like he had nobody to lean on. His brother was in college and his mother was distant. This led him to develop a very close relationship with his aunt. During one weekend he visited Florida and right there he switched his commitment and decided to go to Florida. 

Hernandez knew that he had to prove himself, he was the new guy and he was not from the area. Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow made him a star. He won the John Mackey Award in 2009 and he also was SEC All First Team, an All-American, and won the BCS championship that year as well. His tenure in Florida did not come without the first instances of trouble. He reportedly got into a bar fight and punched the owner. The owner decided not to press charges.

In  2007, there was a double shooting in Gainesville, a witness described a man similar to Hernandez. Charges were never brought against Hernandez as there was never enough evidence. He entered the 2010 NFL Draft and was thought to be a Day 1 pick. He fell all the way to the fourth round due to issues regarding his character, that is when Bill Bellichick and the New England Patriots scooped him up.       

The Patriots duo of him and Gronk was almost unstoppable. This led to him signing a five year $40 million dollar contract extension in 2012. That was the start of the downfall. A few months later a body was found murdered a few miles away from Hernandez’s mansion. The body was Odin Lloyd. 

There was boat loads of evidence pointing to Hernandez committing the crime. That includes towers pinging his cell phone location to the scene of the crime. There also was video footage of the rental car that Lloyd entered before being killed and footage of Hernandez with a gun the night of the murder. While digging for evidence at his aunt’s house the police found a car wanted for a drive by shooting a year earlier. Things got even worse for Aaron.

With all this evidence Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder and five varying gun charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in August of 2013. In 2017, after he was acquitted of the drive by shooting in Miami, Hernandez committed suicide at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on April 19, 2017. He left no note behind and many were confused by why did he killed himself days after being acquitted for a murder of two innocent men. 

Hernandez’s brain was donated to a research facility and he was diagnosed with CTE, which is a disease that damages the brain from repeated hits. It is believed due to this and his rough upbringing it brought Hernandez to a point where he could not take it anymore. The new Netflix documentary goes more in depth into why this might have happened.

Aaron Hernandez will always live in infamy along with OJ Simpson.