Aaron Josef Hernandez

Background

Ethnicity: His father was of Puerto Rican descent and his mother was of Italian descent.

Aaron Josef Hernandez was born on November 6, 1989, in Bristol, Connecticut, and grew up on Greystone Avenue. His parents, Dennis Hernandez and Terri Valentine Hernandez, had a turbulent relationship marked by divorce, remarriage, bankruptcy, and frequent conflict. His father died from complications following hernia surgery in January 2006, when Hernandez was sixteen. Hernandez later described an abusive home environment, and his brother reported that Hernandez had been sexually abused as a child.

After his father's death, Hernandez became estranged from his mother and spent substantial time living with his older cousin Tanya Singleton. He had an older brother, Dennis Jonathan Jr., known as D.J. His childhood and adolescence were also marked by marijuana use, alcohol consumption, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder concerns, and increasing involvement with troubled associates.

At Bristol Central High School, Hernandez played football, basketball, and ran track. He moved from wide receiver to tight end and also played defensive end. As a senior, he set Connecticut records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, was named Connecticut's Gatorade Football Player of the Year, and became a US Army All-American. He began dating Shayanna Jenkins during high school; they had known each other since elementary school.

Education

Hernandez attended Bristol Central High School in Bristol, Connecticut, where he developed into a nationally prominent football recruit while also competing in basketball and track. The public high school served the Bristol community, and its football program provided the setting for the state-record performances that made him a leading 2007 tight-end prospect.

He initially committed to the University of Connecticut but chose the University of Florida and graduated from high school more than a semester early so that he could join the Florida program. Because he was not academically prepared for college, he took remedial courses at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville. Santa Fe was a community college serving north-central Florida, while the University of Florida was the state's major public research university and the home of the Florida Gators athletics program.

At Florida, Hernandez played from 2007 through 2009. He finished his college career with 111 receptions, 1,382 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns, helped the Gators win the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, and received the John Mackey Award and first-team All-American recognition as a junior.

Career

Hernandez began organized football at Bristol Central High School, where he played multiple offensive and defensive positions and produced record-setting receiving statistics as a senior. His 67 receptions, 1,807 receiving yards, and 24 offensive touchdowns in that season accompanied 72 tackles, twelve sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and four blocked kicks on defense.

He played college football for the Florida Gators from 2007 to 2009. As a freshman he recorded nine receptions for 151 yards and two touchdowns; in 2008 he made 34 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns. In the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, Florida defeated Oklahoma 24–14, with Hernandez leading the Gators in receiving yards. During his junior season he led Florida with 68 receptions for 850 yards and five touchdowns and was selected as the nation's best tight end by the John Mackey Award.

Hernandez entered the 2010 NFL draft after foregoing his senior year. The New England Patriots selected him in the fourth round, 113th overall, and signed him to a four-year contract. Concerns about his size, marijuana use, failed college drug tests, and other off-field issues caused several teams to remove him from their draft boards, although he had been considered a strong tight-end prospect. The Patriots used him primarily as a receiving tight end alongside Rob Gronkowski, forming one of the league's most productive two-tight-end combinations.

In 2010, Hernandez played fourteen games, starting seven, and recorded 45 receptions for 563 yards and six touchdowns. He became the youngest player since 1960 to exceed 100 receiving yards in a game. In 2011, he made 79 receptions for 910 yards and seven touchdowns, was voted a Pro Bowl alternate, and helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl XLVI, where he caught eight passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the New York Giants. Hernandez and Gronkowski became the first tight-end pair to record at least five touchdown receptions each in consecutive seasons for the same team.

The Patriots gave Hernandez a five-year contract extension in August 2012, but injuries limited him during the season. His last NFL appearance came in the 2012 AFC Championship Game, played on January 20, 2013, against the Baltimore Ravens. He made nine receptions for 83 yards in the Patriots' defeat.

The Patriots released Hernandez on June 26, 2013, shortly after he was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd. He did not play professional football again. In 2015, a Massachusetts jury convicted him of Lloyd's murder and firearm offenses, and he received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. He was acquitted in April 2017 of the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, although he was convicted of unlawful firearm possession in that case.

Hernandez died in his cell at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center on April 19, 2017. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. His murder conviction was initially vacated under Massachusetts's abatement ab initio doctrine because his appeal was pending, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated the conviction in 2019 and ended the use of that doctrine.

Achievements

• Hernandez helped the Florida Gators defeat Oklahoma 24–14 in the 2009 BCS National Championship Game, earning his first national championship.

• He was named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, College Football News, and The Sporting News after the 2009 college season.

• He set Connecticut high-school records with 1,807 receiving yards and 24 receiving touchdowns in his senior season and tied the state career record with 31 touchdowns.

• He reached Super Bowl XLVI with the New England Patriots and caught a touchdown pass in the Patriots' 21–17 loss to the New York Giants.

• Alongside Rob Gronkowski, he helped establish a highly productive Patriots two-tight-end offense and was part of the first tight-end pair to record at least five touchdowns each in consecutive seasons for one team.

Religion

Hernandez expressed an interest in Christianity during his imprisonment and increasingly turned to the Bible during his years behind bars. Investigators found a Bible opened to John 3:16 in his cell, and he told fellow prisoners that all people had Jesus Christ within them.

He also encountered the Nation of Gods and Earths through hip-hop culture and expressed interest in ideas associated with that movement, which has been influenced by Islam. These interests appeared during a period when his prison writings and conversations addressed death, heaven, and spiritual identity.

Views

Hernandez's prison writings and conversations expressed an interest in spiritual redemption, heaven, and a continued existence beyond ordinary time. He referred to Jesus Christ as present within all people and used biblical imagery in the notes found after his death.

His later reflections also addressed identity, secrecy, fear, and the consequences of violence. These themes appeared alongside his continuing interest in football, family, and the possibility of returning to professional life after imprisonment.

Personality

People who knew Hernandez described him as charismatic, attention-seeking, and capable of being the life of a social gathering, while teammates and relatives also described anger, paranoia, mood swings, and difficulty controlling outbursts. He was regarded as one of the hardest-working members of the Patriots despite being socially isolated in the locker room. His coaches and teammates repeatedly characterized him as difficult to manage and in need of direction.

Physical Characteristics: Hernandez was more than six feet tall and played as a relatively undersized NFL tight end. He had numerous tattoos. A 2006 high-school football collision knocked him unconscious and required transportation from the field by ambulance.

Quotes from others about the person

• Urban Meyer described Hernandez as a distressed person when he arrived at Florida and later said that he was devastated by Hernandez's death. Shannon Sharpe characterized Hernandez's criminal associations as inseparable from the professional identity he had developed. Shayanna Jenkins said after his death that she would have supported him if he had discussed his sexuality with her.

Interests

• He was interested in basketball, track and field, hip-hop culture, and weight training. He also followed ideas associated with the Nation of Gods and Earths during imprisonment.

• Sport & Clubs

  American football

• Music & Bands

  Hernandez identified songs and musicians as sources of inspiration in letters written during imprisonment.

Connections

Hernandez was the son of Dennis Hernandez and Terri Valentine Hernandez and the younger brother of Dennis Jonathan Jr., known as D.J. His father died in 2006. Hernandez became engaged to Shayanna Jenkins, whom he had known since childhood, and they had a daughter, Avielle, born in 2012. They never married.

Jenkins and Avielle remained significant family connections during his imprisonment. Hernandez arranged financial support for them after his arrest, and Jenkins visited him by telephone and in person. He later reconciled with his mother while incarcerated.

Hernandez maintained documented friendships and professional connections with Florida teammates Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, and Deonte Thompson, and with Patriots teammates including Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Deion Branch, Brandon Spikes, and Fred Taylor. Maurkice and Mike Pouncey and Brandon Spikes attended or participated in tributes following his death.

Father:

Dennis Hernandez

He was Aaron Hernandez's father and died from complications following hernia surgery in 2006.

Mother:

Terri Valentine Hernandez

She was Aaron Hernandez's mother.

Brother:

Dennis Jonathan Hernandez Jr.

Known as D.J., he was Aaron Hernandez's older brother.

fiancee:

Shayanna Jenkins

She was Hernandez's longtime partner and the mother of his daughter.

Daughter:

Avielle Hernandez

She was Hernandez's daughter, born in 2012.

Collegue :

Rob Gronkowski

He was Hernandez's New England Patriots teammate and tight-end partner.

Collegue :

Maurkice Pouncey

He was Hernandez's Florida Gators teammate and friend.

Collegue :

Mike Pouncey

He was Hernandez's Florida Gators teammate and friend.

References

• Unnecessary Roughness: Inside the Trial and Final Days of Aaron Hernandez Jose Baez's book documents his work as Hernandez's attorney, the trials surrounding Hernandez, and the final period of Hernandez's life.
  2018
• Former Patriots LB Brandon Spikes tweets old Super Bowl photo that featured Aaron Hernandez The article discusses a Super Bowl photograph featuring Hernandez and former Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes.
  2019
• Aaron Hernandez, infamous ex-Patriots star, sounded upbeat in final prison calls before suicide The report examines recordings of Hernandez's final prison telephone calls and his demeanor before his death.
  2023
• 2010 NFL Draft Listing The listing documents Hernandez's selection by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft.
• NFL.com The player page provides Hernandez's professional football career statistics.