He Was Not a (New England) Patriot

On a day when the most notorious criminal in Hong Kong's history passed away, the most notorious NFL player in recent memories also decided to end his own life.

Aaron Hernandez, the former star New England Patriots tight end-turn-convicted murderer serving life in prison at the time, was found hanging himself in his single cell with his bed sheets.

He was 27.

He had a troubled childhood in Connecticut, so much so that he allegedly decided to attend the University of Florida just to stay away from his troubled past. He was a good player on the field at Florida, but numerous red flags, including alleged fights and shooting incidents, caused his draft stock to fall in the 2010 NFL Draft and he was eventually drafted by the Patriots, of all teams, in the fourth round, two rounds or 71 picks after another star tight end, Rob Gronkowski.

The two tight ends were like twin towers on the field, and many teams have since been trying to emulate their success by putting two good receiving tight ends on the field at the same time, but to no avail. The Patriots have been known to be extremely prudent when it comes to giving out long-term contract extensions and huge signing bonuses. Over the years, they have often declined to do so and let many good players leave their team (see Deion Branch, Richard Seymour, Logan Mankins, etc.). Nonetheless, they decided to tear up Hernandez's rookie contract after two seasons and give him and all his baggage a US$12.5 million signing bonus, the largest ever given to a tight end.

That was in late-August 2012.

But in June 2013, Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée at the time, was found dead with multiple gunshots on his body. Hernandez was later charged with his murder and in April 2015, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

In an ironic twist, in mid-July 2012, which is just a couple of weeks before he signed the long-term deal with the Patriots, two men were found shot dead and Hernandez was later charged with their murder too. On April 14, 2017, he was acquitted of the murder charge and, incidentally, TV cameras captured him blowing kisses to his young daughter, showing a rare human and emotional side of him.

It was alleged that he killed Lloyd to prevent him from informing the Police of his involvement of the two men's death. While he was acquitted of the latter charge, it was the death of Lloyd which did him in.

Then, five days after his acquittal, he was dead.

Normally, Yours Truly would say Rest in Peace when someone passes away. But in this case, he won't. It was a sadly story indeed, but the sadness well and truly doesn't lie in his passing.