Were Aaron Hernandez and Bill Belichick's texts in violation of the NFL CBA?

Bill Belichick and Aaron Hernandez (Boston Herald photo/John Wilcox)

Aaron Hernandez dropped in the 2010 NFL draft because of his known marijuana issues and according to Albert Breer on NFL.com some persistent “whispers” of more serious problematic behaviors Hernandez exhibited. Bill Belichick and Urban Meyer’s (then head coach of Hernandez at the University of Florida) relationship was likely the catalyst for the Patriots pick of Hernandez in the 4th round. Breer cites many NFL sources who feared the “whispers” enough to deem Hernandez too much of a risk to draft.

All that said, its unlikely that any of those who were wary of Hernandez could have guessed he’d have a record that included multiple alleged murders a few short years into his NFL career that was nurtured by one of the leagues premier teams and coaches. Meyer paid special attention to Hernandez according to Paul Solotaroff with Ron Borges in Rolling Stone, appointing Tim Tebow as his “life instructor” and reading him scripture every morning. So going into the NFL draft it was understood that a player with Hernandez’s history was going to need ‘special attention’.

We know that throughout his time at the University of Florida, Meyer, Tebow and the Pouncey brothers all held Hernandez’s hand to try and keep him in check, with mixed results. Belichick seems to have taken the hand holding on himself evidenced by the 33 pages of texts. Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk seems to think that Belichick and Hernandez’s 33 pages of texts were about offseason training, which would indicate a violation of the NFL and NFLPA’s collective bargaining agreement. I bet Belichick asked occasionally if Hernandez had worked out or not, but as a means to ensure consistent communication - a dad checking to make sure his kid is where he says he is, not that his kid is doing enough squats.

Florio on ProFootballTalk says that

“...if/when the text messages ever come to light, the words thumb-typed by the cryptic coach will be scrutinized for any hint that Belichick knew or should have known that Hernandez was behaving irrationally or otherwise at risk of doing something incredibly stupid and/or criminal while left to his own devices.”

The trial date has been set for January 5th, 2015, and we are likely to get some idea of what the Patriots, specifically what Belichick knew, prior to Hernandez’s arrest. The texts themselves may never come to light, but even if they do, we are likely to only see evidence of a parent figure, Belichick, trying to help out a troubled youth, Hernandez. Not a coach who in any way, shape or form helped his troubled star try to get away with murder.

-Sully
@HookingFoul
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