Aaron Hernandez Netflix

[Anonymous]

Binged watched last night. I didn't even know who he was, as I don't follow sports. Wow.
He had so much going on: lost his overbearing dad who kept him in check, mom went off the rails with an inappropriate affair, sexual orientation conflicts, CT/frontal lobe damage, very young to be in the NFL, chronic MJ user and all the damage to a young brain, probably mentally ill, possibly schizoid. What a mess.

[Anonymous]

I really wanted to like this doc, and I did enjoy it somewhat, but it was just too long, in my opinion. I knew a lot about the case going in, and I'm a football fan, so I was really excited for it. I felt like they spent too much time on the sexual orientation aspect--I think it was a big piece, but it seemed to get a bigger headline than it deserved. His HS quarterback/lover was a good addition, but the guy's father just seemed unnecessary. He was just providing his own commentary without any additional knowledge of the facts. He didn't know what was going on between AH and his son, and then when he talked about his son coming out to him, he was apparently totally okay with it. So... what's your point? If he had said he was angry or reacted negatively, that might have shown how AH's father would have reacted and given that perspective. Ryan O'Callahan, the gay NFL player, provided a good perspective of the climate, showing that AH could never come out, and that he was part of an anti-gay culture himself, being in the NFL. O'Callahan's contribution was necessary; the quarterback's dad's was not.

Also, I didn't care for the implication that AH was homosexual, and not possibly bisexual. If they wanted to "prove" he wasn't interested in women at all, I would have expected some talk about how he never dated in high school or college, or that he wasn't that into or affectionate with his fiancee, or something. But there was nothing presented that suggested his relationship with his fiancee was anything but genuine.

Also, having looked into the books written by others, I feel like they should have spent more time on the childhood abuse in order to tell his story. Basically all they presented was AH's own words about how his mother went through a lot with his father, but they stayed together, and then a few minutes near the end about his dad beating up his mom one night, and threatening the boys. I mean, his brother changed his freakin' name so he wouldn't be "Dennis Jr." anymore. THAT says a lot--I want to hear more about what happened when they were kids.

Anyway, there was a lot to this story and I felt like with what they chose to present, this movie could have been 2 hours or less. They certainly had enough info available to fill 3 hours, but I was bored for a good part of it. Definitely interested to know more and read the brother's book now.

[Anonymous]

I knew about him only through my son being a die hard fan who wore his jersey all the time as he had with other star Patriots players. I told him he shouldn’t wear it when he got arrested but insisted “innocent until proven guilty”. I am curious to hear what my DS thinks of this documentary.

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear- he committed suicide 2 days after the radio show outed or speculated on his sexuality?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wanted to like this doc, and I did enjoy it somewhat, but it was just too long, in my opinion. I knew a lot about the case going in, and I'm a football fan, so I was really excited for it. I felt like they spent too much time on the sexual orientation aspect--I think it was a big piece, but it seemed to get a bigger headline than it deserved. His HS quarterback/lover was a good addition, but the guy's father just seemed unnecessary. He was just providing his own commentary without any additional knowledge of the facts. He didn't know what was going on between AH and his son, and then when he talked about his son coming out to him, he was apparently totally okay with it. So... what's your point? If he had said he was angry or reacted negatively, that might have shown how AH's father would have reacted and given that perspective. Ryan O'Callahan, the gay NFL player, provided a good perspective of the climate, showing that AH could never come out, and that he was part of an anti-gay culture himself, being in the NFL. O'Callahan's contribution was necessary; the quarterback's dad's was not.

Also, I didn't care for the implication that AH was homosexual, and not possibly bisexual. If they wanted to "prove" he wasn't interested in women at all, I would have expected some talk about how he never dated in high school or college, or that he wasn't that into or affectionate with his fiancee, or something. But there was nothing presented that suggested his relationship with his fiancee was anything but genuine.

Also, having looked into the books written by others, I feel like they should have spent more time on the childhood abuse in order to tell his story. Basically all they presented was AH's own words about how his mother went through a lot with his father, but they stayed together, and then a few minutes near the end about his dad beating up his mom one night, and threatening the boys. I mean, his brother changed his freakin' name so he wouldn't be "Dennis Jr." anymore. THAT says a lot--I want to hear more about what happened when they were kids.

Anyway, there was a lot to this story and I felt like with what they chose to present, this movie could have been 2 hours or less. They certainly had enough info available to fill 3 hours, but I was bored for a good part of it. Definitely interested to know more and read the brother's book now.

I actually liked the input from QB's dad. He had more insight into AH's dad because he saw him as grown man sees another grown man. His son's (the QB's) perspective of the elder Hernandez was with the eyes of a kid. Those are two legitimately different perspectives.

I also wish the documentary had told more about the physical abuse he took as a kid. AH had the severest case of CTE of any NFL player, despite playing only 3(?) seasons in the NFL.

[Anonymous]

Everyone called AH ‘s dad Mr. Fernandez, even the QB’s dad - just shows you how scared people were of him

[Anonymous]

I actually liked the input from QB's dad. He had more insight into AH's dad because he saw him as grown man sees another grown man. His son's (the QB's) perspective of the elder Hernandez was with the eyes of a kid. Those are two legitimately different perspectives.

Did he say much about that, though? Maybe it was in the earlier episodes and I had forgotten about it by the time I finished (took me 2 nights to get through it). Or, I could have just been distracted by his Bobby Moynihan vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone called AH ‘s dad Mr. Fernandez, even the QB’s dad - just shows you how scared people were of him

He was also known as "The King." Could be a salute to his expertise, a la "the king of football," or something much worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I actually liked the input from QB's dad. He had more insight into AH's dad because he saw him as grown man sees another grown man. His son's (the QB's) perspective of the elder Hernandez was with the eyes of a kid. Those are two legitimately different perspectives.

Did he say much about that, though? Maybe it was in the earlier episodes and I had forgotten about it by the time I finished (took me 2 nights to get through it). Or, I could have just been distracted by his Bobby Moynihan vibe.

I thought he basically said that both he and Mr. Hernandez were homophobic and the boys would have legitimately expected a negative reaction if they came out. Once he actually found out the truth about his son's sexuality, the QB dad accepted and loved him and was sad to think about the mental anguish his son went through being closeted, BUT he thinks Mr. Hernandez would have never accepted it and Aaron was right to fear his father's reaction, that it would have been total rejection and probably physical abuse as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:#1 - they WERE young. Like early 20s. He was drafted at 20.

#2 - don’t think they ever officially married, although it seems she added his name? It’s so bizarre. She should be in jail too

+1

She was on camera disposing of evidence!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article. Seems the lawyer for the fiancé/daughter is trying every angle to get money. Last year a judge ruled they could not file a 20M suit as part of the class action against the NFL for suicides related to CTEs.

https://www.distractify.com/p/aaron-hernandez-daughter-now

Interesting that the lawyer claims the NFL is the reason the daughter isn’t being raised by her father. Let’s just sweep under the rug the whole pesky “life in prison murder conviction”. As if that wasn’t going to prevent him from raising her...

Agreed.

IMO, that AH MUST have had a lot of drug money lying around. The book discusses AH and Ochocinco having switched numbers - AH took #81 only after compensation ($50k) from Ochocinco, and the proceeds were said to have fronted a drug deal involving one of the men mentioned in the Netflix series. (Ochocinco presumably knew nothing about what his payment to AH was used for). There was a lot of money and guns floating around AH, it seemed.

Also, I was under the impression that the NFL may have owned the house that AH and girlfriend lived in? Not sure how I arrived at that, except that the NFL does own some houses. So the girlfriend or daughter got $1/2m of that? Was it equity from the house? I know they bought the house for $1.3m, then sold it for $1m because it needed work. I think the buyer sold it soon after for about $1.3. But anyway, still curious about the assets and monies that were inevitably around....

I don’t think the fiancé/daughter have received any money from the sale of the house. I’m pretty sure that Aaron owned the house, not the NFL. Otherwise the lawsuits by the dead men’s’ estates and the fiancé wouldn’t be necessary.

I’ve googled a bunch and all I can find is that the fiancé filed a lawsuit against the estates of the three men who have sued Aaron’s estate. The lawsuit the fiancé filed was to enforce the homestead exemption for the daughter. In MA the homestead exemption protects up to 500k from creditors. So from what I can find, the fiancé/daughter are not going to get his forfeited money from the NFL, are not going to get money by suing the NFL for his CTE, are still in pending litigation against the Patriots for the CTE, and are in pending litigation for the homestead credit.

A fascinating mess.

I think the Patriots were part of the CTE lawsuit filed against the NFL, not 2 separate cases, so the whole thing has been thrown out. The Massachusetts Supreme Court also reinstated his murder conviction last year, upending the rule that convictions are vacated if the defendant dies before all appeals are exhausted as antiquated and nonsensical, so that removed any uncertainty about the voiding of his contract and probably ensures the family cannot go after the Patriots for withholding the rest of his signing bonus. They took cap hits on him in 2013 and 2014 and he was off their books in 2015. I'm sorry for the state his poor choices have left his family in, but expecting the NFL or the Pats to pay for it is ridiculous.

+1

I am wondering how much the girlfriend/family got $$$$ before this all happened, and is it true they will get nothing henceforth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i think it was because his coach Urban Meyer did not want him back on the team and suggested he try to get drafted by the NFL.

I mean probably, but why?

my husband claimed that Meyer warned the Pats NOT to draft him. says he read it somewhere.

It feels like they all knew they had a ticking time bomb on their hands.

NP. It doesn't say the Pats in particular, but there was such a story about Urban Meyer telling that to an NFL scout: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/othercolleges/2018/09/20/urban-meyer-told-nfl-team-not-draft-aaron-hernandez-per-report/1367136002/

The Pats have taken chances on behavior problems before. Belichick has a no-nonsense system and some problem players respond well to that (i.e. Randy Moss). If it doesn't work, they get cut. He was a star player with them for 3 years. But I don't think the Pats or anyone else imagined that Hernandez would turn into a serial killer, though. Why should they? Plenty of young men get into trouble with the law, drugs, violent fights, etc. but almost never do they end up murderers.

And the CTE is something of a red herring. Not to say that it didn't affect him and isn't alarming, but Hernandez lived a violent life from a young age, either from abuse or his own actions. There's no way to differentiate the effects of that from the football. And there have been plenty of NFL players with CTE and none of them killed a bunch of people except him. Suicide, yes, murder, no. Too much focus on CTE wrongly absolves him of responsibility for heinous acts.

All this

+1

[Anonymous]

It was sad to hear the audio of him and his mother when he said he was the happiest little kid and she (messed) that up, he was sent to college at a young age and had no one, how did she expect him to turn out, an angel?’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was sad to hear the audio of him and his mother when he said he was the happiest little kid and she (messed) that up, he was sent to college at a young age and had no one, how did she expect him to turn out, an angel?’

I have thought about that, also. Her response: " I ain't living with that" - broke my heart. I think that every family member in that house, maybe especially her, were just trying to survive. I don't think the kids could ever understand what she went through. I am not saying how she handled anything was right, I am just saying that they each were given a cross to bear by their father, and the father could do no wrong, according to the boys. Maybe Aaron was saying "why didn't you get us out of there", I'm not sure. He was a very broken little boy, until he died. That part makes me sad, and I had less than zero empathy for him before I saw the series.

His dad was especially homophobic (perhaps gay or bi himself, who knows), and the boys (especially Aaron) wanted nothing more than to please the dad. The dad's great moments were playing football and sports with the boys, and teaching them how to play. He was all they had, sadly. The whole story of their upbringing s fascinating and heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#1 - they WERE young. Like early 20s. He was drafted at 20.

#2 - don’t think they ever officially married, although it seems she added his name? It’s so bizarre. She should be in jail too

+1

She was on camera disposing of evidence!

That was shocking.