Now that Aaron Hernandez has been released by the Pats, I feel comfortable making some football-related commentary. As I said on the podcast this morning, someone had their life taken away from them, and that’s the saddest part of this whole situation.
I don’t know Hernandez’s involvement, or what will ultimately come to light, but his three years in New England are now over, cutting short what we all thought would be a TE party that lasted a long time.
I’ve always thought Gronkowski was the more valuable of the two, due to his ability to dominate in both blocking and receiving. Hernando was the icing on the cake, the matchup nightmare who forced teams to choose whether to play him as a tight end or a receiver.
He was electric with the ball in space, and his cutback ability was second to none for a man of his size. He finishes his Patriots career with 38 of a possible 48 games played, with 175 catches for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns.
The Patriots offense will be forced to evolve even moreso than they were already being forced to. Just two weeks ago it was easy to imagine Jake Ballard filling in for Gronk, and Hernandez taking over as Brady’s safety valve, with the two tight end offense still being the primary focus. Now they’ll likely be forced to use more multiple receiver and running back formations (11 and 21 personnel), which means more opportunities for players like Donald Jones and LeGarrette Blount.
No one adapts to change better than the Patriots, and while it’s scary to imagine the offense missing all four receiving threats from last season to start 2013, there should be some excitement as Brady gets re-energized having a new set of weapons that no one has a blueprint to stop yet.
This is one of the most interesting developments of Brady’s career, and will give him a chance to prove once again he’s the greatest of all-time.
As for Hernandez, I hope that the punishment fits his involvement, and that eventually he’s able to learn from this and get his life back on track for the sake of his family.