Stephen A. Smith showed no sympathy for Aaron Hernandez when he committed suicide, and he’s not changing his mind now that it’s been revealed that his brain showed signs of an advanced stage of CTE.
Smith discussed Hernandez with his co-host Max Kellerman and former NFL player Teddy Bruschi on ESPN’s “First Take” Friday morning, and Smith made it clear that the news of the brain disease did not change his opinion of the convicted murderer.
Smith cited a list of behavior issues Hernandez had before entering the NFL, and then went ballistic on air discussing attorney Jose Baez’ lawsuit against the Patriots and the NFL in the wake of the CTE discovery.
“Under no circumstances am I diminishing the impact of CTE, how legitimate of an issue that is. … I’m not disagreeing with any of that,” Smith began. “What I’m saying is you don’t get to be a lawyer for Aaron Hernandez’s family, show up to try to sue the Patriots, try to sue the NFL and all of a sudden get us all caught up in CTE to the point where we diminish the murder conviction that had you in jail for the rest of your life,” Smith said.
“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I’m sorry, the Odin Lloyd family don’t wanna hear that. You think they want to hear CTE this morning?” Smith asked. “Listen, Junior Seau — God rest his soul — killed himself! Dave Duerson killed himself! You have people harming themselves. Who’s committing murder? Murder! I don’t wanna hear that!”
Baez filed a lawsuit against the league and the Patriots claiming they failed to protect their players’ safety, contributing to the disease that led Hernandez to commit suicide and leave his daughter fatherless.