Holy Sh*t, Aaron Hernandez (Allegedly) Killed That Guy While (Allegedly) High on Angel Dust Posted by Nathan S. on 08/29/13 | Filed under Opinion, Sports

(Photo Illustration by Sean McCabe; Photograph of Hernandez in illustration by Aaron Frutman/DGA Productions, via Rolling Stone)

Full disclosure, as a Boston native I'm an unapologetic Patriots fan, although I don't think most Pats fans are as blindly loyal to the proverbial "Patriot Way" as the rest of the country seems to think. Bill Bellicheck is a complete dick who will do anything to win, but he's a complete dick that's given us two Super Bowls and a decade of top tier football, so, you know, we'll live with it. And I guarantee you'd be cool with it too if he was raking in Lombradi trophies for your team.

But still, maybe the Bruschi jersey hanging in my closet didn't allow me to fully appreciate the balls craziness of Aaron Hernandez' arrest in the murder of Odin Lloyd. Yes, I thought, "Holy shit, a star NFL player (allegedly) murdered someone", but after reading Rolling Stone's "The Gangster in the Huddle" profile on Hernandez, the more appropriate reaction is something like, "HOLY SHIT AARON HERNANDEZ TOTALLY (allegedly) KILLED A DUDE, AND PROBABLY MORE PEOPLE, WHILE (allegedly) HIGH ON FUCKING ANGEL DUST."

"In exclusive conversations with Rolling Stone, those friends, who insisted they not be named, say Hernandez was using the maniacal drug angel dust, had fallen in with a crew of gangsters and convinced himself that his life was in danger, carrying a gun wherever he went."

Quick recap. According to Rolling Stone, Hernandez grew up in a much harsher environment than I realized. His father was a reformed petty criminal who reformed who died suddenly from a medical accident, then his mom remarried an abusive local coke dealer. He was semi-adopted/fell in with a crew of other low level criminals, went to Florida and got in some violent altercations that were covered up, got drafted by the Patriots, was probably involved in a shooting police couldn't connect him to, (allegedly) starting using angel dust on a regular basis, carried a weapon on him at all times, and then later (allegedly) killed Odin Lloyd because he seemed to be convinced Lloyd was part of a paranoid plot to kill him.

"By now, even Hernandez seems to have sensed that he was wildly off course. According to a source close to Hernandez, he flew to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this past February and confided to Belichick that his life was in danger. Hernandez was trying to break away from the gangsters he’d befriended. He worried “they were actually trying to kill him,” says the source. Hernandez began arming himself, stashing a rifle in his gym bag and installing a 14-camera security system at his mansion. “He was very paranoid, but was that because of his addictions or because he was trying to leave the gang?”"

Holy...shit. First, if Rolling Stone's sources are right, that means Hernandez played at least a portion of the 2012 season while regularly consuming angel dust. An ankle injury cut his season short, but still, in ten games he caught for nearly 500 yards and 5 touchdowns. So you can play pro football in a complex offense on an elite level while on angel dust? Huh. Second, I've watched enough "First 48" to know Hernandez is either completely innocent, or an almost absurdly dumb murderer. The car Lloyd was killed in was easily traced back to one of Hernandez' friend, Carlos Ortiz, Lloyd was killed just minutes from Hernandez' house, and the killers left Lloyd's cell phone on him (complete with incriminating texts and calls from and about Hernandez).

So to recap, assuming the charges against Hernandez turn out to be true; Remembering and executing a complex, two tight-end, hybrid offensive scheme while on regularly smoking angel dust? Not a problem. Planning a murder while on angel dust? Way over his head.

For the complete balls crazy story, check out Rolling Stone's "The Gangster in the Huddle", and to be fair, you should also check out the Boston Globe's reporting pointing out some problems with Rolling Stone's facts.

Crazy talk...