The Aaron Hernandez story is as tragic as you’ll find from an athlete, anytime, anywhere on this planet.
When a Massachusetts jury found the former NFL star tight end guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday it was not the end, nor the beginning, of the sad tale of a seriously messed up football player whose background intersected with two football men with former ties to the state of Utah.
Former Utah coach Urban Meyer coached Hernandez at the University of Florida. It was Hernandez who beat out BYU’s Dennis Pitta in 2009 for the John Mackey Award given to college football’s outstanding tight end.
When the month of April unfolded two weeks ago, Hernandez, 25, was on the cusp of being labeled a killer.
Pitta? Well, Steve Bisciotti, owner of the Baltimore Ravens, was “praying” for Pitta, 29, to recover from a broken hip and rejoin the team.
Wednesday Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole. But it has just begun. In a separate case, he now faces a double murder charge for the drive-by shooting deaths of two Boston men, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, after an alleged altercation in a nightclub in 2012. He also faces civil lawsuits from relatives of the victims. In addition, a former friend, Alexander Bradley, says Hernandez shot him in the face and left him for dead in Miami in February 2013, and has sued him.
So, what, if anything, could Meyer have done other than the measures he did take, to redirect Hernandez from this heartbreaking path of destruction and mayhem?
Or was Hernandez unfixable?
If Hernandez, who was regularly in trouble in Gainesville, Florida, as a college student, had been kicked out of school or off the team, what would that have meant for Pitta and the Mackey Award?
When at Florida, Hernandez got into trouble with illegal drugs and allegedly punched a bouncer at a bar near the University of Florida campus before he turned 18. The Orlando Sentinel reported later that fall that Gainesville police questioned Hernandez about a shooting that injured two people after a Florida game.
Allowed to remain on the team, Hernandez became an All-American and the most decorated tight end in Gators history.
In 2009, he left Florida early for the NFL. According to USA Today, many NFL teams put a red flag on his folder because of his behavior and marijuana use. He dropped to the fourth round of the NFL draft, when he was finally picked by the New England Patriots. The Boston Globe reported Hernandez had failed as many as six drug tests while at Florida.
The Patriots liked Hernandez’ talent, and just as when he was at Florida, he was awarded playing time despite signs of trouble. In 2012, the Patriots offered him a long-term contract through 2018 worth $40 million.
Following Hernandez's arrest on murder charges in 2013, Meyer later admitted, on the Sept. 23, 2014 episode of HBO’s Real Sports, that he had made mistakes holding athletes accountable while head coach at Florida, but that he had tried to keep Hernandez on the straight and narrow.
“I don’t think anybody ever dreamed of this, myself included. He (Hernandez) had a positive drug test and sat out a game. We knew every time he went home — and that was a concern of mine — every time he would go to Connecticut, I’d have players on my team say ‘Watch this guy, watch when he comes back,’ so I would visit with him.”
Meyer reportedly had Hernandez in his home and regularly read the Bible with him.
Meyer protested to the Columbus Dispatch in the summer of 2013 that blaming serious charges thrown at Hernandez on the University of Florida, his staff or himself was “wrong and irresponsible.” Meyer's wife, Shelley, tweeted: "When will we start holding individuals accountable for their own decisions/actions and stop blaming any/everyone else?"
Hernandez lost his father, Dennis, in January 2006 to complications from hernia surgery when he was just 16. It is documented by friends and family members that Hernandez turned angry and destructive before he began attending Florida. There are also reports he was allegedly involved in gang activity as he grew into adulthood.
Meyer's Florida team was no respite for the troubled Hernandez.
From 2005 to 2010 there were at least 31 arrests of Florida football players that included the following violations: open container laws, aggravated stalking, domestic violence by strangulation, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and fraudulent use of credit cards, according to a July 6, 2013 report in the New York Times.
After his murder arrest, Florida’s athletic department removed photos of Hernandez from the locker room, football office and team areas and removed a brick outside the Swamp that noted his 2009 All-America citation.
In 2009 the Pats and Ravens both needed tight ends. In the fourth round, the Pats chose before the Ravens and took Hernandez. Baltimore took Pitta. New England had a chance to choose Pitta who helped the Ravens to the Super Bowl with character.
Meanwhile, just weeks before the Hernandez conviction took place, Baltimore Ravens owner Bisciotti told Maryland media about Pitta who missed 2014 with continued hip issues.
“I’m praying that Dennis (Pitta) comes back and he’s healthy enough and they come to a solution and he feels comfortable.”
It remains to be seen if Super Bowl ring wearer Pitta will make a comeback. Meyers, fresh off another national title, just signed a contract extension worth $6.4 million a year over the next six years to remain at Ohio State.
Hernandez, on the other hand, is slated to spend the rest of his life in a Walpole, Massachusetts prison located just a few miles from Gillette Stadium — home to his former Patriots teammates.
Dick Harmon, Deseret News sports columnist, can be found on Twitter as Harmonwrites and can be contacted at dharmon@desnews.com.