Aaron Hernandez’s time with the New England Patriots was never just about what he did on the field. A resurfaced Rob Gronkowski interview this week put a harsher spotlight on how strange things could get behind the scenes, with Gronkowski offering a blunt look at rumors about Hernandez acting out during team meetings.
Gronkowski, who played with Hernandez from 2010 to 2012, was asked about claims that Hernandez was masturbating in Patriots meeting rooms. His answer was as direct as it gets: he said he “may or may not have seen it live.”
He didn’t stop there. Gronkowski called the behavior “crazy” and “epic.” He also said he “didn’t mind things like that” because he loved “crazy sh-t” and nothing phased him.
The clip has been circulating on X this week, and it has people talking again about just how volatile Hernandez could be during his Patriots days. What Gronkowski clearly did not see coming was the much darker turn Hernandez’s life would take later.
Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 and later died by suicide in his prison cell two years after that. His football career had once looked far brighter than that ending would ever suggest. He had signed a $40 million contract extension, but everything changed in June 2013 when the body of Odin Lloyd was found in an industrial park near Hernandez’s home.
Investigators then began piecing together Hernandez’s connection to the case, finding surveillance footage and forensic evidence that tied him to the crime scene. The Patriots cut him from the team after that.
Hernandez went to trial in early 2015 and was found guilty of first-degree murder. That conviction carried a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Even after that, more legal trouble followed. While serving that sentence, Hernandez was indicted in connection with a separate 2012 double homicide in Boston. A jury acquitted him on those murder charges, giving him a brief legal win.
It didn’t last long. Just days after that acquittal, correctional officers found Hernandez hanging in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
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The concern goes beyond one name or one position, because the depth issues there could leave the back end thinner than expected when the Patriots arrive. For Maye, that creates a real opening to lean on his new receiving weapons and test a defense that may have to patch things together on short notice, making this one of the more interesting early-season spots on New Englands schedule. [Read more 🡒]