Belichick on – Bill Belichick says he knew Aaron Hernandez was “different” with the New England Patriots but didn’t see his “darker side” until after the 2013 murder case and the later events that followed, including Hernandez’s 2015 conviction and 2017 suicide.
Bill Belichick didn’t sound surprised when he described Aaron Hernandez as “different.” He sounded haunted when he tried to explain what that difference meant.
Speaking on “Hang Out with Sean Hannity. ” Belichick said he and Hernandez had plenty to work with during their time together with the New England Patriots. But he added that there was “another side to him” that “a lot of us didn’t see. ” and that he only became aware of that darker reality after the sequence of tragedies that erupted years later.
Hernandez’s NFL career ended abruptly in 2013, when he was arrested for the murder of acquaintance Odin Lloyd. Lloyd was murdered in his native North Attleborough, Massachusetts on June 17, 2013. Hernandez was later convicted in 2015 for Lloyd’s murder. He was eventually acquitted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
Days after that acquittal, in April 2017, Hernandez died by suicide in a prison cell at 27. After his death, he was posthumously diagnosed with a severe case of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition some have blamed for violent behavior.
Belichick framed Hernandez’s early reputation around ability and intelligence, even as he acknowledged the unsettling contrast that followed. “Aaron was very smart,” Belichick said. “He was different… Look, we gave him a contract extension a year before that.”
That contract extension—five-year, $39.58 million—was awarded by the Patriots in August 2012. Belichick later returned to the idea that talent can coexist with danger, a point Hannity pressed as well. Hannity. an NFL fan who said he lived in the New York area when Belichick was the Giants’ defensive coordinator. called it “tragic” and added that some people’s “blessing sometimes is a curse.”.
Belichick didn’t disagree.
Then the conversation widened beyond Hernandez. Belichick criticized CBS News and questioned the editing of a widely circulated interview from last year involving his girlfriend. Jordon Hudson. The interview went viral because Hudson intervened and shut down a line of questioning about how she met Belichick. Belichick said the way the interview was handled made him believe it was “deceptively edited. ” adding that he had asked for the transcript but that he was not given it.
He said the pattern wasn’t isolated: “as we’ve seen recently, there have been more editing problems,” he said, and that they “go back over a couple of years—multiple examples of editing and interview process and all that.”
Belichick continued by saying he was “kind of confused” about what CBS claimed it was doing and that he did not think it “live[s] up to the trust that they talk about.” The Hudson interview. meanwhile. fueled fresh scrutiny of their relationship and placed Hudson’s role within the UNC football program under public inquests and scrutiny over the summer.
As the interview moved into another familiar controversy, Belichick also addressed his Pro Football Hall of Fame snub. His absence from the honor in his first year of eligibility came as a shock to many across the NFL and beyond.
Belichick said he has kept his focus narrow. “Honestly. I’ve been very focused on my job at the University of North Carolina and the players and the university there. ” he explained. “So, you know, whatever happens, happens. But I’m proud of what we accomplished as teams at New England and certainly at the Giants. and proud of those relationships. So that’s what matters most.”.
He added that he appreciated support for his candidacy. naming Tom Brady and President Trump among those who had offered it. “It’s great to hear that support from so many people and from so many different fields— not just football. but many others. ” Belichick said. “And so, you know, I was very appreciative of that support and the positive comments that they made.”.
Bill Belichick Aaron Hernandez New England Patriots Odin Lloyd Daniel de Abreu Safiro Furtado chronic traumatic encephalopathy CTE Pro Football Hall of Fame Jordon Hudson CBS News UNC football