"Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’"

From NESN

Analysis by Adam McElrath in SRM 334 (section 2)

With the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Aaron Hernandez arrest happening all within the month of June, the New England area has been the center of attention for the media in recent months. Jake and I have focused our attention to how the Hernandez arrest became all that was talked about on numerous television and social networks. We also wanted to take a different approach to our presentation and look at the future of Hernandez after coming across an article by Mike Cole of the New England Sports Network titled, “Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’” This article is interesting in many different ways. First off, at this point in time it seems farfetched that a return to the NFL for Hernandez is remotely possible. Also, in this article Cole interviewed Rolling Stones journalist Paul Solotaroff, who is responsible for writing a polarizing article delving into the criminal’s dark past with interviews involving close family and friends of Hernandez. From Cole’s interview with Solotaroff and his viewpoints on the legality of the case, we see a distant possibility of the John Mackey Award winner returning to the league. If this ever does happen and Hernandez is found innocent or completes a short term in prison, the media will have a frenzy speculating which teams will be willing to take the risk.

The media was in uproar when the story first broke back in the middle of June. With the bulk of the action being located in the town of Bristol, Connecticut, ESPN was one of the first to report on the subject. Shortly after ESPN arrived at Hernandez’s home, the word was out everywhere and from a viewers standpoint, it was almost impossible to escape the talk as Twitter and Facebook exploded with rumors and stories and how all major television networks were right in the heart of it all, covering it 24/7.

The mass media continues to put large emphasis when any new, developing stories arise involving the possible sentence Hernandez will face. TMZ outbid Barstool Sports for $20,000 over a handwritten letter from Hernandez in his jail cell to one of his friends as Hernandez kept pleading his innocence and how “God” has a plan for him all while begging his friend to keep this off social media. In this day in age, no matter how close of a friend he might be to the former Patriots’ tight end, no way was he not going to take this opportunity to bank a lot of cash.
All in all, as a student in a Sports in Media class, it is easy to see how the media loves to get their hands on intriguing stories before their competition does. And it is also obvious to see how these same people feel the urgency to be the first to break a story to the public. But with this being the case many rumors can start making their audience “trust” that they are being provided with facts ultimately leaving no chance for other opinions on the subject matter. In the Aaron Hernandez situation, the media has portrayed him in any way possible as a criminal, a convict, and a murderer.

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Analysis by Jake Porter in SRM 334 (section 2)

While researching articles for this presentation Adam and I found a vast amount of reports that have detailed the Aaron Hernandez murder case. This made it very easy to find a relevant report even though we had to sift through and find what was fact and what was speculation. Our main article written by Mike Cole gives a somewhat fresh viewpoint on a story that has already been blown out of the water by major news outlets like ESPN, CNN, CBS, etc. This article introduces the idea that Aaron Hernandez could possibly be integrated back into the NFL, given that he beats the multiple murder charges standing in front of him.

In the article Mike Cole interviews Paul Solotaroff, writer for the Rolling Stones, who claims that Hernandez can easily beat the alleged murder charges set before him. The article explains that Hernandez is likely looking at about 3 years of jail time for gun charges, but Aaron is young and pending his release will have, "very low mileage on those legs of his and a lot of time to heal up" (Cole). Paul is later quoted in the article that he would not be surprised if some NFL teams pursued Hernandez if or when the charges are dropped against him.

No one knows what the future really holds for Aaron Hernandez. The future may l look grim to some, but there are plenty of optimists out there that would not be surprised to see Hernandez back in the league within the next half decade. During the course of this project it has been interesting to see the role the media has played in this case. From the day the story broke to the weeks following it seemed that most major news outlets covered every minute detail. Even though the story has died off in recent months, the media can still play a big role in the future. Hypothetically if Hernandez is released and charges are dropped, the media will play a huge role integrating him back into the league, because they have the influence to turn a man once seen as a monster back into a cherished NFL superstar.