Oh, Deion... Come'on dude.. REALLY?

[Gwedd]

I have no problem with what Deion said.

To those of you damning Hernandez, and complaining about Deion's comments, I hope that none of you ever find yourself under arrest. So quick to judge before the trial even starts. It's a character flaw, I suspect. the same sort of flaw that led to lynch mobs and branding adulterers.

Let the legal system take it's course. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, & won't judge Hernandez yet, as he is innocent until proven guilty. If he's guilty, then he needs to suffer whatever the law provides. If he's acquitted, then a whole lot of talking heads in the media, and a bunch of folks on this board will be eating crow.

V/R

 

[Fencer]

I don't see anything wrong with what he said.

Same here.

He's just reporting on what he knows of the guy personally, except insofar as he's commenting on what the highest priorities in the situation should be. What's wrong with either part of that?

And by the way -- Branch is the last guy who would take a "Once a thug, always a thug" view, given his own personal history.

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Branch absolutely said nothing wrong.

I'm in the grocery business, and about a decade ago, there was a young stocker working at the store. He seemed to be a great kid. Nice, never called in sick, always got to work on time, hard working, was going to college.

I remember seeing him at work one day and it seemed like any other day I ever saw him.

I get to work the next day to find out he was in police custody for having shot and killed a man the night before while trying to buy drugs. He's in prison now.

Of course I was shocked and never would have guessed he could do that, and was more shocked to slowly learn about his darker side. If someone would have asked me to talk about him a week after it happened, I wouldn't have said much anything different from what Deion said.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Deion played it down the middle. He considers AH a friend and in his darkest hour, is showing some loyalty to him. He also said he prayed that he is not involved in this terrible crime.

Count me as one of those who are not outraged by Deion's comments.

 

[lurker1965]

Hate to cross paths with Deions definition of a "BAD" guy. :bricks:

LINK

To pick the absolute worst/best example of an evil human being I can think of:

Adolf Hitler conned 25% of 1932 Germany into thinking he was a good guy. I suspect Aaron Hernadez got a higher percentage.

 

[lurker1965]

Maybe Twiggy only saw the charismatic, hard-practicing, football smart side of Hernandez?

I hardly see Branch having any role or knowledge of the gangster life. Rumor has it, he was being initiated into a local gang in high school but pulled a hamstring on the way to to a convenience store robbery.

Just curious, is that a "true" rumor or a joke about his injury-proneness?

It sounds like sarcasm I'm missing.

 

[tonyto3690]

So Light gets praised for calling out Hernandez and kicking dirt on him, but Branch gets called out for sticking up for a friend?

NEWS FLASH: Hernandez hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.


I am of the opinion Hernandez is guilty, but all of this crying about how Hernandez is a murderer and Branch (and anyone else) should never say anything positive about Hernandez ever again, is just foolhardy and stupid.

I think Lewis is a murderer, but that doesn't change the fact he was a great leader for the Ravens. I think he was respected and well liked across the league. Still a murderer.

Branch is allowed to say Hernandez is/was his friend and a great guy.

 

[voluntarysaftey]

I'm okay with what Deion said.
He could've worded it better; but since he wasn't reading off a script, it's tough to answer a question perfectly.

“Aaron is a great guy and a great friend of mine and a great teammate,” Branch said. “I love him to death, and it was shocking to hear his name involved in this situation. I truly hope and pray he doesn’t have any dealings with it" [he could've added]: I also truly hope that those responsible for Lloyd's death are brought to justice -- and if Aaron did have a role, then I would expect him to face severe consequences

With this line, he should've just left off 'that was my guy' or changed it to 'he was a close friend' (stating it factually instead of emotionally)
“That’s my guy, man,” Branch said of Hernandez. “That’s my guy. It really shocked me. He was a great kid. Overall, I hope the best that he isn’t involved with it and I hope he gets his name cleared, but most importantly I send my prayers and condolences out to the Lloyd family.”

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

That's a totally f'ed up thing for him to say. How I would word it I'm not sure but to say "Aaron is a great guy" when "Aaron" most likely killed at least one person - that's messed up.

 

[RobertWeathers]

So Light gets praised for calling out Hernandez and kicking dirt on him, but Branch gets called out for sticking up for a friend?

NEWS FLASH: Hernandez hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.


I am of the opinion Hernandez is guilty, but all of this crying about how Hernandez is a murderer and Branch (and anyone else) should never say anything positive about Hernandez ever again, is just foolhardy and stupid.

I think Lewis is a murderer, but that doesn't change the fact he was a great leader for the Ravens. I think he was respected and well liked across the league. Still a murderer.

Branch is allowed to say Hernandez is/was his friend and a great guy.

Who is praising Light for saying he never believed in him? What are they praising him for? It's not like Light came out and said that he knew that eventually he would take someone's life?

 

[RobertWeathers]

That's a totally f'ed up thing for him to say. How I would word it I'm not sure but to say "Aaron is a great guy" when "Aaron" most likely killed at least one person - that's messed up.

I agree. I do defend Deion for his position but he did not choose his words well. He should have said, "I consider Aaron a good friend of mine and I am very troubled by all of what has transpired.".

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

DB says; AH was a great guy with me in the locker room, I hope he is not involved, whoever did this should be punished. He also paid his respects to the Lloyd family.

What's wrong with this?? Some people just can't seem to reconcile that there appears to be two faces of AH. And the one that appears to be a gangland style murderer is one that was not shown to others.....not players, coaches, neighbors, people close to the team/football.

Fyi, you want to add Mike Reiss to the people who are shocked at what they are hearing about AH. He spoke words about 'talking with AH after almost every practice for the last few years' and 'none of what is now in the news is the guy he interacted with/saw'.

 

[Rob0729]

In fairness to Branch, it is hard to believe someone you called a friend could be a stone cold killer. If all these murders were done by Hernandez, he is clearly a sociopath if not a full blown psychopath. If he is easier, he is able to live a dual life where he can be the greatest guy in the world to some and a monster to others.

All you have to do is look at OJ. The OJ most people knew was a great guy who everyone loved. Yet, behind closed doors he beat his wife and ultimately went into a jealous rage that led him to murder his ex-wife and her boyfriend. And ultimately sent him to jail for for multiple charges including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in another incident.

I don't know if I can blame him for being in a bit of denial over this. Most of us on this board was and I bet many people who know Hernandez are too.

 

[BradyFTW!]

If you read the whole article, and all of what Deion said, it's totally reasonable. In his experience, Hernandez was a pretty good guy, but if he is actually guilty, then everyone agrees that he should pay for it. What's so bad about him saying that?

 

[NormZauchin]

I have no problem with what Deion said.

To those of you damning Hernandez, and complaining about Deion's comments, I hope that none of you ever find yourself under arrest. So quick to judge before the trial even starts. It's a character flaw, I suspect. the same sort of flaw that led to lynch mobs and branding adulterers.

Let the legal system take it's course. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, & won't judge Hernandez yet, as he is innocent until proven guilty. If he's guilty, then he needs to suffer whatever the law provides. If he's acquitted, then a whole lot of talking heads in the media, and a bunch of folks on this board will be eating crow.

V/R

Being found not guilty in a court of law is not the same as being innocent, especially when one has the money to buy a high-priced legal defense.

The OJ Simpson trial proved that.

 

[PittPatriot]

Just curious, is that a "true" rumor or a joke about his injury-proneness?

It sounds like sarcasm I'm missing.

It was my attempt at sarcasm relating to Branch's injury history.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Fyi, you want to add Mike Reiss to the people who are shocked at what they are hearing about AH. He spoke words about 'talking with AH after almost every practice for the last few years' and 'none of what is now in the news is the guy he interacted with/saw'.

As I've said elsewhere, the one point where I'm truly willing to give #81 the benefit of the doubt is in terms of when his behavior "crossed the line."

Clearly, he was engaging in ill-advised behavior for some time. But we don't know when that crossed over from ill-advised to outright illegal.

Do I believe that he probably made bad choices that spiraled out of control? Absolutely.

Do I believe, based on the evidence I've heard so far, that Hernandez is likely guilty of killing Lloyd? Sadly, yes.

Do I believe, based on what I've heard so far, that Hernandez is clearly a psychopathic "serial killer"? No.

 

[Joker]

anybody who has existed on this planet for the last thirty years should KNOW that making a public statement, pro or con , on ANY high profile news story is a no win. Branch SHOULD have just given a simple no comment.

 

[Uncle Rico]

anybody who has existed on this planet for the last thirty years should KNOW that making a public statement, pro or con , on ANY high profile news story is a no win. Branch SHOULD have just given a simple no comment.

Yup. So now you have Channel 7 News reporting on a former teammate "defending Aaron Hernandez." Quite a reach there, but not surprising.

 

[Bella*chick]

Yup. So now you have Channel 7 News reporting on a former teammate "defending Aaron Hernandez." Quite a reach there, but not surprising.

Absolutely. They take one thing he said "That's my guy, man!" and it's the headline.

Just not a good idea.