
(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
News broke out early Wednesday morning that former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernadez had hung himself in his jail cell. Hernadez was recently acquitted of a double murder that occurred in 2012. He was serving a life sentence in a Massachusetts maxim prison for the murder of Odin Lloyd.
This former tight end was that the height of his career when he was arrested back in 2013 and was one of the top tight ends in the NFL. Due to his criminal history, he has had a fall from grace, with his legacy being basically erased from the NFL and NCAA. While the star did commit suicide, his attorney had said that Hernandez was not suicidal.
While a majority of his NFL salary is going to legal fees, Aaron Hernandez did manage to raise a pretty considerable net worth.
Aaron Hernandez’s Net Worth as of 2019: $8.2 Million
To understand how Aaron Hernandez managed to gain that high of a net worth, let’s look back on this former NFL stars history.
2007 – 2010

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Hernandez was supposed to sign with UConn, his home state’s college, but decided to go for Urban Meyer’s University of Florida. Hernandez was able to prosper with the Gators and had a stellar college career. He was limited in touches during his freshman year, only accumulating 151 yards and two touchdowns.
His Sophmore year saw a rise in his performance and game time and he ended the season with 34 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns. That year the Gators also managed to make it to the 2009 BCS Championship game and defeated the Oklahoma Sooners. Hernandez’s was able to garner 34 receptions for 381 yards and five touchdowns in his junior year. He decided to forgo his senior year and entered the 2010 NFL Draft.
2010 – 2013

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Due to some allegations about criminal activity while in Florida, his NFL stock fell. It was also reported that he had failed a drug test, which also worried many teams. However, the New England Patriots decided to take a chance on this tight end and drafted him. This was a very profitable draft year for the Patriots as they also drafted Rob Gronkowski in an earlier round.
Hernandez broke out as a rising star in 2010 and ended the season with 45 receptions for 563 yards and six touchdowns. In 2011, Hernandez helped lead the Patriots to Super Bowl XLVI, and while he scored the go-ahead touchdown in the game, the Patriots lost the Superbowl to the giants 21-17. Gronk and Hernandez were a top tight end duo and both were in the top five tight ends in the NFL during the 2011 and 2012 season. After getting a signing bonus of $12.5 million at the start of the 2012 season, Hernadez would play his last NFL football game in the AFC championship against the Ravens.
2013 – 2015

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Breaking news came out that the police had arrested Aaron Hernandez at his home on June 26, 2013, in connection with the murder of Odin Lloyd. He had apparently shot his friend in the back and chest, and the day after he tried to cover the evidence by destroying his phone and his home security system. Days earlier, after news broke out of the investigation, the Patriots barred Hernandez from coming to the Patriots facilities.
After the arrest, the Patriots released the tight end from their roster, offered fans to get compensation for trading in their jerseys, and all memorabilia of Hernandez was removed. The tight end also had his endorsements taken away, his likeness removed from all NFL and NCAA video games, his football cards for that year destroyed, and photos of him were taken down at the University of Florida. In 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of the murder of Odin Lloyd and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
2015 – Present

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Hernandez popped up sporadically after his conviction, due to both ongoing cases and issues he caused in the prison. He got into altercations with prisoners and threatened a prison guard. A majority of his salary was going to pay for legal fees for the multiple cases he had against him. He was still being tried for the 2012 double murder but was acquitted of all charges in 2017. Six days after being acquitted of the double murder, Herandez hung himself by his bedsheets in the early morning of April 19, 2017. The former tight end did not leave a suicide note as to why he did it.
2018
Aaron Hernandez reveals all the dark prison secrets in his much-anticipated book, All American Murder.
2019
The podcast about Aaron Hernandez “Gladiator” has been optioned by FX and now the channel has the rights to develop the material.