Attorney says Aaron Hernandez had CTE: Family plans to sue NFL, Patriots
By Ryan Black
Published:
Aaron Hernandez’s family plans to sue both the NFL and the New England Patriots.
The announcement came during a press conference Thursday with Jose Baez, the lawyer for Hernandez’s family.
Baez told the assembled media members Hernandez showed signs of advanced stage 3 CTE. Because of that, the family will file a federal lawsuit against the NFL and the New England Patriots.
“It’s something that we considered as a team but did not pursue simply because his defense was one of actual innocence and not one of mitigation,” Beaz said. “It’s something I deeply regret.”
Baez said the median age of those who suffer from this type of advanced CTE is 67, four decades older than Hernandez.
Hernandez was a star at Florida under then-head coach Urban Meyer before he was taken in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft by New England. He was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2011, a key piece of an AFC title squad that lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI 21-17.
But his career spiraled downhill after he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013. Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison without the chance for parole. At the same time he was on trial for Lloyd’s murder, Hernandez was indicted in a double-homicide that occurred in 2012. He was later acquitted on those charges.
Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell April 19 of this year. The death was ruled to be a suicide by hanging.
Hernandez was 27.
Check out video from the Baez press conference below.
Jose Baez – Hernandez family lawyer “Aaron Hernandez had stage 3 of CTE…filed a federal lawsuit suing the NFL and th Patriots.” pic.twitter.com/Z3FvHVaVAO
— Chad Amaral (@chad_amaral) September 21, 2017
Ryan Black covers Georgia football for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanABlack.
