Tom Brady did not appear inclined to discuss at any length former New England Patriots teammate Aaron Hernandez when asked about the late tight end during a Monday radio interview.
“I don’t think about him very often,” Brady said of Hernandez on WEEI radio, via the Boston Herald.
Hernandez was 27 when he committed suicide in prison on April 19 while serving a life sentence for murder. A report last week revealed Hernandez, who played for the Patriots from 2010 to 2012, suffered from a “severe case” of degenerative brain disease CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has been discovered in several former NFL players. It can only be diagnosed postmortem.
A lawsuit has now been filed on behalf of Hernandez’s daughter against the Patriots and NFL. Hernandez reportedly suffered from Stage 3 CTE, with Stage 4 being the most severe.
Brady was teammates with Hernandez for the three seasons the tight end was a member of the Patriots. While the Patriots signal-caller generally avoided saying anything substantive about Hernandez, Brady did acknowledge the tragedy of it all.
“It’s just very tragic, for everyone involved,” Brady said. “To have a teammate who we were all in the huddle with, played some great games with. For everybody involved, it’s just a horrible thing. I don’t know what to make of it. It’s just very, very, very sad.”
Brady without question is among the savviest players in the NFL when it comes to avoiding saying anything that could potentially generate controversy. With that in mind, it’s hardly surprising he exercised caution when discussing Hernandez, much like Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did last week when asked about the very same topic.
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