The New England Patriots did not wait until Aaron Hernandez was charged with murder to cut ties with the troubled tight end, releasing him soon after police led him from his house in handcuffs.
In a rare instance of public relations before football for one of the league’s most successful teams, the Patriots released a statement saying, “At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do.”
Hernandez was charged with the slaying of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, whose bullet-riddled body was found in an industrial park about a mile away from Hernandez’s home.
Prosecutors said that Hernandez “orchestrated the crime from the beginning.”