Maybe it took some time for the Aaron Hernandez murder case to set in, but now key members of the Patriots organization are starting to speak up and express their feelings on the matter.
New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft finally broke his silence on the matter Monday, and according to Pro Football Talk, said he felt personally “duped” by Hernandez, and that’s why he decided to release the tight end so quickly.
“Following Aaron’s arrest, I read a number of different accounts of how things transpired in our organization,” Kraft said, via Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. “Let me be clear, we decided the week prior to Aaron’s arrest that if Aaron was arrested in connection with the [Odin] Lloyd murder case that we would cut him immediately after.
“The rationale behind that decision was that if any member of the New England Patriots organization is close enough to a murder investigation to actually get arrested — whether it be for obstruction of justice or the crime itself, it is too close to an unthinkable act for that person to be part of this organization going forward.”
Kraft admitted he was surprised about the news regarding Hernandez, and now feels he needs to take a closer look at everyone in his organization, after having no knowledge of any of Hernandez’s doings.
“When he was in our building, we never saw anything where he was not polite. He was always respectful to me. We only know what’s going on inside the building. We don’t put private eyes on people,” Kraft said.