Many have wondered why Bill Belichick, a close friend of Urban Meyer, chose to draft tight end Aaron Hernandez in 2010 when there were a number of red flags surrounding the troubled pass-catcher.
Meyer had 31 players arrested during his time coaching the Florida Gators, and Hernandez had run-ins with the Gainesville Police during that time when he was questioned in his connection with a 2007 shooting and had police recommend felony battery charges against him, although chargers never were pursued.
While it’s unknown whether Meyer and Belichick discussed the troubled tight end (they probably did), the now-Ohio State head coach reportedly warned one NFL team not to go near Hernandez during the 2010 NFL Draft.
Excerpts from ESPN’s Ian O’Connor’s book, “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time,” were released Wednesday, and in it, one NFL official tells O’Connor that they were surprised the Pats took Hernandez after what Meyer told them about the tight end.
Via O’Connor:
While coaching at Florida, Urban Meyer warned at least one NFL team that it should not draft his talented but troubled tight end, Aaron Hernandez. Meyer told that team, “Look, this guy’s a hell of a football player, but he f—ing lies to beat the system and teaches all our other guys to beat the system. With the marijuana stuff, we’ve never caught this guy, but we know he’s doing it. … Don’t f—ing touch that guy.” An official with that NFL team said he was taken aback when Meyer’s friend, Belichick, drafted Hernandez in the fourth round. “I never understood that,” the official said.
Meyer’s warning should have been heeded. Hernandez was arrested in 2013 for the murder of Odin Lloyd and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 before committing suicide in 2017.
