Be happy. The Seahawks saved themselves the trouble of hosting Hardy’s next stop. No you know why our other team is called:
http://dallasdesperados.com/
They never planned to - his agent floated that jacked up ‘Bennett wants out so Seattle is in the market’ story to create a market for his player. They actually share an agent, interestingly.
The Pats signed the 92nd ranked cornerback (out of 108), so our secondary problems are over.
Even Philly didn’t want him. IBWT.
For the first time in years, Belichick posed with the other 31 coaches for the Head Coach photo at the annual meeting.
Wearing jeans and flip-flops. Can’t decide if that is better or worse than Andy Reid showing up in a crazy Hawaiian shirt every year. I wonder why he did it this year.
[url=<a href=“https://twitter.com/nflprguy/status/580120535742349312%5D2015”>https://twitter.com/nflprguy/status/580120535742349312]2015 Head Coaches/url
Someone asked him if he was going to let his image be used in Madden 2015, and his response was “What Madden game? I have no idea. You should ask John about that.”
Considering Belichick is a technical illiterate (it supposedly took him 3 years to figure out how to set the clock in his car) I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he really doesn’t know there’s a game that will pay him actual cash money to use his picture.
Ian Rappaport is reporting that supposedly as many as 20 teams are being investigated by the league for tampering leading up to this year’s free agency. It wouldn’t do to have the Patriots excluded from any sort of massive league-wide cheating scandal, so I was happy to see the Jets file tampering charges in against the Patriots in an attempt to deflect attention to their own tampering.
How many days to the Thursday opener? :(|)
So was anyone surprised at the Aaron Hernandez verdict?
As long as the jury deliberated, I began to believe that they were either hung or would acquit.
I wasn’t surprised. The evidence was pretty compelling.
He was the most bumbling criminal around but I was also worried that somehow it might be a hung jury as well. No idea how but it didn’t seem like it should have taken that long. What a dirtbag!
For some reason, I didn’t really follow the case and don’t know much of the evidence against him. I know prosecutors didn’t go into motive, but is there a sense “out there” of why he would have done such a thing?
I also have to give kudos to the Patriots organization for cutting him immediately. It seems like usually they keep them on, saying “innocent until proven guilty.” I wonder if there was something about his behavior/demeanor/known character that convinced them that the charges were likely true.
The one most compelling theory on motive seems to be that Hernandez was concerned that Odin Lloyd knew too much about his previous murder (that will still be going to trial). Why bother, you might ask? In case today’s verdict is appealed and overturned.
@jshain, that makes sense. Thanks.
And yes, I think they should go ahead with the other trial for the reason you state, and in fairness to the families of those other two men, who also deserve to see justice done for them.
They couldn’t go into motive. Judge barred it. Just like they barred one of the final witnesses (Hernandez’ friend) from explaining why his face was disfigured.
This all started in 2012 when somebody spilled a drink on Hernandez in a Boston nightclub. Hernandez got into an argument with two guys, hopped in his car, and murdered them in a drive by shooting at a traffic light in downtown Boston.
The friend with the disfigured face was in the car with Hernandez and witnessed the murders. In January 2013, Hernandez took the friend on a trip to south Florida. Drove him behind an industrial building, shot him between the eyes, and left him for dead. The only problem is that he didn’t die. He is the lead witness in the second murder trial, which is a slam dunk. (They found the SUV Hernandez was driving for those two murders covered with dust in a garage at his aunt’s house in CT while investigating the Odin LLoyd murder and they have the murder weapon traced to Hernandez).
The presumed motive for the Odin Lloyd murder is that he knew about the first murder. Hernandez saw him talking to friends of the first two victims in a club, two nights before Hernandez murdered him. Hernandez thought he was (or would) spill the beans.
The judge didn’t allow any of this to be used. The friend with the disfigured face could only talk about Hernandez being generally paranoid (but with no explanation) and could only refer to events “before Feb 13” (the day Hernandez shot him).
I thought Hernandez would walk on this first murder trial, but do major time for the gun charges and get life in prison on a slam dunk conviction for the double drive by murders. The guy with the disfigured face will be a VERY compelling witness in that trial.
Basically, Hernandez was a cold blooded serial killer and Odin Lloyd was murdered to shut him up.
Apparently a number of teams passed on Hernandez originally due to questions about his behavior in the years leading up to the draft, but the Pats thought they could handle him. Story is he looked Belacheck in the eye and told him he woldn’t regret it. So obviously they cut him immediately once he was accused of a felony. It didn’t happen in a vacuum. (Note I don’t know anything about this myself, and I’m just passing on what the sports talk was today.)
The funniest bit of testimony was that of the Patriots Director of Security. British guy who was head of security for Wembley Stadium and for the Sydney Olympic Games before the Pats hired him.
He talked with Hernandez the day after the murder and asked if he was involved. Hernandez told him no.
Prosecutor: Did you ask him anything else?
Security guy: Yes
Prosecutor: What did you ask him?
Security guy: I asked him why he lawyered up.
Defense lawyer: Objection!
Judge: Sidebar!
The Pats cut him 30 minutes after he was arrested, before the charges were publicly known. I’m sure they knew what charges were coming, although their statement at the time said they didn’t. Once Hernandez lawyered up and a couple of days went by with no explanation of how LLoyd came to be murdered, it was all pretty obvious.
The Gators and The Patriots knew what they had IMO and chose to ignore it. This bad behavior isn’t new and would not have taken anyone by surprise. He had a history in college and before that no doubt.
And yes, I understand that once upon a time the Holmgren and The Seahawks knew what they were getting with their own criminal tight end.
idad, that’s hilarious.
Totally off topic, but a hospital CEO shared a great story that never made the paper. One of the NFL teams was training near his hospital, so the players were all staying nearby. One of the biggest guys on the team - and you know how big that means - bought a new car, and one night a drunk rear-ended his new car. The player (I think it was LT, but don’t quote me) got out of his car and went to discuss things with the drunk, who laughed at him and rolled his own car window up. According to the CEO, the player put his fist through the window and punched out the at-fault driver. The police came and took them both to the ceo’s hospital. The problem was, they both ended up in the same ER, and the drunk taunted the player again. The player proceeded to go after the stupid drunk again, which unfortunately entailed taking apart a big chunk of the entire ER. The doc in charge in a panic called the CEO, who said he called the only person who could handle the player - the head coach. So the head coach arrives under speeding police escort (they couldn’t control the player either) and the coach was able to calm the player down. The team wrote a big check to the hospital to pay for the damage. What a night that must have been. Actually, I kind of sympathize with the player.
saint fan, great avatar for today. What a hero.
In fairness to the Pats, nobody had any inkling that Hernandez was a serial killer. He had not been in any trouble (as far as anyone knew) since joining the Pats. And, his behavior was such that the Pats had just given him a big new contract.
The team that should be worried is the Dolphins with the contract they just gave to Maurice Pouncy, Hernandez’ best friend. Not only was Pouncy dumb enough to wear a Free Hernandez t-shirt, but he was hauled into to Mass. to testify about his involvement in gun running with Hernandez.
Well, clearly I am pretty ignorant of the facts of the case. I guess I better get caught up somehow. Usually I am very interested in these kinds of cases; not sure how this one eluded me so much.
He does sound like a sociopath. Not too bright, though.
It’s been a difficult and disjointed saga to follow.The Odin LLoyd murder made no sense without the context of cold blooded hit to cover up a prior double homicide.