Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...
I have now read several articles regarding Aaron Hernandez that take the opportunity to bash and blame some other entity or person for his behavior. I have now seen numerous writings and reports bashing Bill Belichick, Urban Meyer and SEC football. Apparently, the slow pace of progress and resolution in this issue has given too many people time to move on alternate agendas.
Why is it Urban Meyer's fault that a 23 year old adult has prosecutors claiming he picked up Odin Lloyd, drove him to a secluded industrial park and executed him? Big time college football is chock full of idiot players getting arrested for crimes or failing drug tests. Some even hit the jackpot and do both. Because the history at Florida under Meyer shows that those failings were higher than normal has given Meyer haters the opening to throw the Hernandez mess in his lap. I find it hard to believe that Meyer being harder on Hernandez at Florida, four years ago, would have resulted in Lloyd being alive today. Hernandez runs in the wrong crowd, Lloyd ran in the wrong crowd and suspending a "wrong crowd" member for the big Georgia game would not have made a difference.
I also see where Aaron Hernandez and his decisions are now a reason to bash Bill Belichick. The Patriots do have a recent history of signing players who are excellent at football, questionable at life. Look around, that is true on every NFL team but when you win like Belichick does, it becomes open season for people who don't like him. So I see these claims linking Belichick and his ways of running a football team and organization to Hernandez' alleged crimes. Belichick, with his ways of holding calculated and cold press conferences, accepting players over the years with questionable pasts and sometimes being a sore loser, has nothing to do Hernandez allegedly acting on his own to shoot Lloyd.
According to some others, this is actually the fault of the SEC drug testing policy. The policy is in place, but the schools hold the key which is determining who gets suspended and for how long, if at all. Certain stars and former players are known to have failed more than 10 drug tests with little or no repercussions. Hernandez himself reportedly failed at least six drug tests at Florida. SEC football is big boy football and that also makes it big money football. This leads to winning being at a premium and that draws dumb boosters, coaches willing to do anything, and a ton of resources being thrown at kids not yet prepared to handle the atmosphere.
But it is hardly the reason a former SEC football player, now 23 years old and several years removed from the SEC, is accused of murdering another person because he thought it was the best way to deal with being mad at him.
I understand the media needs to advance this story and has time to dig into the deepest darkest parts of this saga as the trial looks to be maybe a year away. But Hernandez and his alleged crimes should not be a reason to deflect blame from him and promote responsibility on others. You can't use him as a reason to mock coaches and organizations for which he has played.
Hernandez is a warning sign, a huge warning sign, but not for Urban Meyer's discipline, Bill Belichick's roster or the SEC's drug testing policy. The warning sign needs to be directed at athletes everywhere. It needs to be directed at young men everywhere. Actually, it just needs to be directed everywhere as handling differences of any kind and any level with deadly violence is not an answer.
Of course, ultimately, Aaron Hernandez will pay the price for his actions. Whether it is loss of career and endorsements based on a trial and being acquitted or whether it is a lifetime in prison based on a guilty plea or verdict, his life is ultimately different going forward. Hernandez made that choice, he put himself in situations where this could be a possibility, no one else.
But Odin Lloyd ran with the wrong crowd too and Aaron Hernandez was part of that crowd. Meyer, Belichick and the SEC are not part of that crowd. Be careful when it is crowded...
All this because I know more about nothing...
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