Pittsburgh Steelers to Talk to Maurkice Pouncey about “Free Hernandez” Hat, but is He Guilty of Anything Except Bad Judgement?
By Kyle Curry on July 14, 2013
It’s a well-known fact that Maurkice Pouncey, of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his twin brother Mike are good friends of ex-Patriots tight-end Aaron Hernandez. The three played college football together at the University of Florida and have been friends since.
Hernandez, of course, has been all over the news since being connected with the execution-style murder of Odin Lloyd. The Pouncey twins were connected to another incident involving Hernandez while the three were playing at Florida. According to reports the Pouncey’s were seen with Hernandez on the night of a double-shooting and all three were questioned about the incident.
The shooting happened Sept. 30, 2007. Two men were shot, one in the arm and the other in the head, they were able to get themselves to the hospital. As for the case it is still open and no one was ever charged for the shootings.
My hope was that nothing else would come from the Hernandez situation when it comes to the Pouncey twins, but they have brought the attention back to themselves. Below is a picture of Marukice and Mike wearing hats that are labeled “FREE HERNANDEZ.”
Now according to a report from ESPN’s John Clayton the Steelers will talk with Maurkice about his choice to wear the hat. My question, though, and I believe I am in the minority here, is what did the Pouncey twins do that was so wrong? Despite showing a lack of judgement.
If my best friend was arrested for murder I would support him. It would also be very hard for me to believe that anyone in my family or group of friends would be capable of something like that and I would stand behind them and look at the case in terms of “innocent until proven guilty.”
The issue is that our society prefers to look at these types of things in the view of guilty until proven innocent. Imagine what we will feel like if Hernandez is cleared of all charges and walks free. Our view of him will definitely have changed, but some people will have to put their foot in their mouths.
Now I’ll admit that Hernandez looks pretty bad based on the evidence that has been released to this point, but I still don’t know what happened that night. There’s a good chance he is guilty of at least being involved in the murder of Lloyd, but he could always walk free of all charges.
Just look at the Trayvon Martin case. Many people thought they new exactly how that case would play out and some were wrong and others were right.
That said, the Pouncey twins are guilty of bad judgement. Pro athletes and other celebrities are put under a microscope and wearing those hats in public probably wasn’t the best idea. That said I don’t know if I can condemn them for supporting their friend.
Of course, if they continue to support him if he is found guilty I think I would have a problem with that. However, for now I think I’ll be in the minority and give them the benefit of the doubt.
They have some maturing to do and need to realize that they are constantly under a microscope for their actions on and off the field. Outside of that, however, I don’t see much wrong with the fact that they are supporting their friend during the worst time of his, and his families lives.
Also, for those calling these two thugs: can we please stop with this? Tatoos, being friends with Hernandez and wearing those hats does not make these guys “thugs.” They showed some bad judgement by wearing those hats, but most of us have done stupid stuff in our lives; especially in our twenties and the Pouncey twins are only 23.
Problem is, this is only my opinion and everyone is free to have their own as well. The Pouncey brothers, as far as I’m concerned, are also free to their opinion about Hernandez, but that is neither here nor there. Also, just checking through Twitter it is clear that many are on the other side of the fence going as far as to ask for Pouncey to be cut:
[URL]https://twitter.com/mwelchpgh/status/356529571954311168[/URL]
[URL]https://twitter.com/jbranum16/status/356482106534281218[/URL]
[URL]https://twitter.com/rickandersonoc/status/356442228039753730[/URL]
[URL]http://network.yardbarker.com/all_sports/article_external/pittsburgh_steelers_to_talk_to_maurkice_pouncey_ab out_free_hernandez_hat_but_is_he_guilty_of_anythin g_except_bad_judgement/14052794[/URL]
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