Pats tweet: Hernandez released

[letekro]

This is a New England Patriots forum and I am not going to apologize for discussing how this event impacts the team in the upcoming season. Your sanctimony would be better served in another forum and if Aaron Hernandez was not involved then neither you, me nor anyone else in here would have ever heard of or cared a single thing about Odin Lloyd.

Bravo!

Well put.

 

[Tunescribe]

What a weird combination of emotions I'm feeling:

* Anger -- at Hernandez.
* Sad -- that someone has died.
* Sad -- that we've lost such a good player.
* Relieved -- that the "distraction" is over.
* Proud -- that the Patriots made the right choice.

 

[Spiral]

That doesn't even begin to describe what kind of trouble Hernandez is in right now. This sudden release means the Patriots are pretty confident they will be able to recover the $12m signing bonus they gave him.

Which begs the question of how he is going to pay the bills that Roper & Grey and Rankin & Sultan are going to be sending him.

Going to go from $40m in the bank to being in debt for the rest of his life, never mind prison. What a horrendous turn of events. Just awful.

You don't think those law firms aren't smart enough to get a huge retainer from him?

If the Patriots want to get his bonus money back, they'll probably have to get most of it from these two law firms. Good luck with that, Bob.

 

[Ironman44]

What do strippers have to do with this? Or drugs or alcohol for that matter? We also know nothing about his friends. All we know is that they weren't led away in handcuffs today.

The Lifestyle bud. He is a former gang banger .

 

[wahwho]

If people are complaining, take a look at yourselves! He is (possibly) linked to the death of person, the majority of businesses, whether sports, insurance, production, etc would not stand for this!

Yes, Mr. Kraft owns a football team, but it is still a business!

I obviously have no problem if he is convicted of any level of connection with a murder. However, I don't believe that action should be taken before a conviction. I don't care if that's how the majority of businesses would react or not; it might be how things work, but it's not how things should work. Not on an accusation only.

 

[SB39]

I have a feeling the Pats front office has been notified of the pending charges.... I can't see a reason why they would release him without even knowing what's he's being charged with

I agree. I think they know things that haven't come out yet, which led them to choose this course of action.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

Per Twitter...

ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 4m
Source with direct knowledge of Hernandez situation tells us: "Assume the worst."

Not looking good for Hernandez!!!

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

what a great offseason!

 

[JMC00]

I almost bought a Hernandez jersey, I am glad I chose to get Hightower instead. I wonder how cheap the Hernandez jerseys will be!

I've only purchased one Patriots jersey in my life and it will be the only jersey I ever purchase and it was Brady.

 

[fnordcircle]

28 NFL players have been arrested since the Superbowl? Wow! I did not know the league had this many idiots in it. Goddell is going to have a field day. AH can be their poster boy.

By the way - the US arrest rate is around 3% of the population gets arrested yearly.

28 people out of what, 1800 (including practice squad, etc) is 1%. That's about in keeping with the rest of the US.

 

[Tunescribe]

You don't think those law firms aren't smart enough to get a huge retainer from him?

If the Patriots want to get his bonus money back, they'll probably have to get most of it from these two law firms. Good luck with that, Bob.

They'll reportedly have $10 million in dead cap money the next two years because of this. It was worth it. I'm proud of the Patriots putting principle ahead of money in this case.

 

[Henroc]

so this sucks. obviously this is sad for hernandez, pats fans, and the family of lloyd.

If he was arrested then obviously the PD believes that he had something to do with the murder if not commit the murder himself.

The pats handled this correctly. they dont want anything to do with this, they dont want any distractions.Plus we do have ballard and sudfeld.Also, last year when we didn't have Herny, we did just fine. Its not like brady is gone guys. He makes this team Tick.

 

[dannydyn]

Really doubt that they have been formally notified, but it is a known fact that Patriots director of security Mark Briggs is very connected as far as law enforcement, including MSP. They probably know what the charge is going to be.

I never said 'formally informed'.... more like 'internally leaked'...

 

[SB39]

Well, count me in the minority of Pats Fans who feel bad for the everyone involved. I don't think it is "great" we released him, especially if he is found not guilty…however or if ever that were to happen.

31 other teams are snickering to themselves because of our misfortune. Wes Welker is shaking his head somewhere. This arguably may be the most tragic story of a Boston area athlete with the exception of Len Bias. Nothing to feel good about here...

Bullcrap. Aaron Hernandez is a scumbag, not a tragic figure. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

BTW I can think of a couple hundred Boston area athletes who had a hell of a lot more tragedy in their lives a couple months ago.

 

[dannydyn]

It was worth it. I'm proud of the Patriots putting principle ahead of money in this case.

Could not agree more...I'd much rather his absence affect our season to the worse, than this great organization associated with a murderer or even someone who's just covering for a murderer.

 

[sly24]

I'm guessing the Pats know something more about this than all of us do because that was a very quick move. Looks real, real bad for AH.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Aaron Wilson gtting response from Billick, comparing Ray Lewis situation:

https://twitter.com/RavensInsider/status/349903217930403842

"Brian Billick on Ray Lewis situation: 'Our support of Ray Lewis stemmed from our faith in Ray Lewis as a person.'"

"Brian Billick: 'We kind of went on a leap of faith.'"

Have at us Ravens fans.

 

[dannydyn]

Bullcrap. Aaron Hernandez is a scumbag, but not a tragic figure. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

BTW I can think of a couple hundred Boston area athletes who had a hell of a lot more tragedy in their lives a couple months ago.

Well said.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

If I understand the idea of the forfeiture clause correctly, it's because the Patriots would have been "deprived of his services" while he was suspended as a result of being in jail.

By releasing him outright, they are saying "We don't want you," and therefore are willing to accept the cap hit.

I would hope we could argue that the eventual suspension will have been for activities that occurred while under contract to us, that he broke conduct rules (obviously), that he broke morals clauses in his contract, and that the release today was simply an acknowledgment of the fact that he would not be able to fulfill his contract due to his own illegal and immoral acts.

It's an odd circumstance where a team apparently takes a hit in that way for doing clearly the right thing.

 

[PP2]

They'll reportedly have $10 million in dead cap money the next two years because of this. It was worth it. I'm proud of the Patriots putting principle ahead of money in this case.

I think that was part of the calculation in releasing him. Pats are probably pretty confident in their ability to get that cap hit negated.