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Al Michaels Brought Up Aaron Hernandez During Chiefs-Raiders Broadcast

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Nov 29, 2024 6:15 PM ET

Al Michaels earned a lot of praise from NFL fans for his joke about officiating during this Friday's game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs. That's not the only comment he made that went viral though.

During the first quarter of the Chiefs-Raiders game, Michaels talked about Kansas City utilizing two tight ends in Noah Gray and Travis Kelce. He then compared them to another tight end duo in NFL history, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

“Mahomes, all the way to the end zone and incomplete. That time intended for Noah Gray. Talking about him, the other tight end. You know Kirk [Herbstreit], I’m thinking back to using the two tight ends, it reminds me of when Bill Belichick had [Rob] Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. And he kind of changed everything, running the offense through those two guys about a decade ago," Michaels said.

When an announcer mentions Hernandez by name, that usually causes people to pause. The former NFL star was arrested and charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd in 203. He was ultimately found dead in his jail cell in April 2017.

Al Michaels drops a casual Aaron Hernandez comparison when talking about Chiefs TE Noah Gray pic.twitter.com/hbFkA4JlXR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 29, 2024

While some people were shocked by Michaels' comment, others thought it was perfectly fine.

"So what are they never supposed to mention that O scheme again? He’s right," one fan said.

"Perfectly accurate analysis," another fan replied. "While we’re at it, OJ Simpson went to 6 Pro Bowls and was All Pro 4 times and still has records that will likely never be broken. It’s just hard facts about the player, not the person."

"Just an observation about how Patriots ran 2 TE offense. Not an endorsement of AH as human being," a third person wrote.

At the end of the day, we can't erase Hernandez's history in the NFL.

Do you think Michaels overstepped with his remark about Hernandez?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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