Robert Kraft's statement should settle Patriots criticism on Hernandez
Sports shows around the country have focused on how culpable the team was when dealing with Aaron Hernandez. Did they not know of his gang affiliations when they drafted him? Did they know of his sketchy off-field activities?
Certainly, the Patriots never could've expected the player to be a murderer, but given the hindsight we now have, they could've taken steps to at least not give the man the big extension they dished out.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft had yet to speak about the case, though the Patriots did release a statement after releasing Hernandez just a half hour after he was arrested. Still, the team's silence has been much criticized, but Kraft's words leave little room for more of that.
Boston Herald:
“This is the last thing we want," Kraft said of the entire situation. “Everything we don’t want has happened. We made a mistake. We’re facing it head on. Obviously it wasn’t the correct decision. It’s sad. Very sad."
Kraft did not mine words here and seems to speak very bluntly and honestly. Could the Patriots have done more to find out what Hernandez was up to off of the field? Of course. They could've hired private eyes to follow Hernandez around, to watch every move he makes. Of course, that would've seemed completely off base before these recent events.
The fact of the matter is, even when you have an NFL player from a sketchy background, no one assumes that they are capable of murder.
“I remember some players we gave some money to and they dogged it for a year or two," Kraft said. “He had the best camp of any player. We made a business decision. We paid for performance. Obviously it wasn’t the correct decision. We’re just sorry for what the Lloyd family has to go through. They lost a son, a brother. It’s sad. I don’t understand why things happen like that. I got duped to be honest. He knew how to push my buttons."
When he was in our building, we never saw anything where he was not polite," Kraft said. “He was always respectful, always polite but I only know what goes on inside the building. We don’t put private eyes on people. We set up guidelines."
Whatever safety net was in place it did not catch Aaron Hernandez, Kraft admitted, adding that he remains innocent until proven guilty but also conceding he would have to review how the team vets its players.
“You can be sure we’ll be looking at all our procedures and auditing how we do things," Kraft said. “I feel bad someone in our organization could potentially be tied to this. If it’s true I’m just shocked."
Should the Patriots have done more research on Aaron Hernandez before signing him to an extension? Absolutely. Did they do as much as they do on normal players? Probably.
I see nothing wrong with that, again, you never assume any of your players are murderers. After this Hernandez case though, I'm sure that's something that will at least be in the back of every NFL team's minds going forward.
The Patriots made a mistake, Kraft has been very forthright about that. What more could you ask for? It is time now to move on, Hernandez is going to stay in jail and the Patriots have a season to prepare for.
