Not everyone had sympathy when Aaron Hernandez’s life ended by suicide in his jail cell.
But Dolphins center Mike Pouncey has never been shy about his feelings for his friend and former college teammate, and became emotional Thursday when discussing the former Patriots tight end who was serving a life sentence for murder at the time.
“It was tough,” Pouncey said, via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. “Obviously, I don’t condone any of the things that he was accused of, but just to have a friend I was so close with, that I felt like was my brother and I know that he felt the same way, it’s tough. It’s tough for anyone to have a loss in their family, but that one right there hit my and my brother really hard.”
Hernandez wasn’t simply accused, he was convicted of murdering Odin Lloyd, though he had just been acquitted in a separate double-murder trial days before his death. Pouncey said the last time he talked to Hernandez, his friend was in “great spirits.”
“Just, you know, about the case that he had just won,” Pouncey said. “He was excited, ready to fight the first one again. Just a lot of different stuff. Happy for him.
“It was just tough, man. . . . We’re still shocked to this day that we’re even at this point.”
As difficult as it is for some to imagine, it’s evident that Pouncey never backed away from his friend, when many did all they could to distance themselves from Hernandez.