Matt Light is the First Patriot to Say He Hated Aaron Hernandez
Dayton Daily – I’ve known Matt Light a long time and I have never – and I mean NEVER – heard him speak ill of another player, not even a defensive linemen like the New York Giants’ Osi Umenyiora with whom his classic battles in the NFL trenches have included some extra-curriculars after the whistle. But Tuesday when I asked the former New England Patriot star tackle about his old teammate – tight end Aaron Hernandez – his easy smile quickly vanished and he went silent for several seconds as he decided what, if anything, he would say. “I never talk about other guys, but I will say I have never embraced – never believed in – anything Aaron Hernandez stood for,” Light finally said. The recently-retired Light – who won three Super Bowl rings and went to four Pro Bowls in his 11 year career – insinuated that Hernandez, with whom he played alongside for two years, has always had his own agenda – and it wasn’t a good one. Light now sounds prophetic.
Well that is more damning than anything we heard yesterday in the Bristol County courtroom. I mean, if Matt Light hates you, you deserve to be hated. I always considered Light to be a much more talented Kevin Millar. That glue guy that’s everybody’s pal, is funny and articulate and keeps a locker room together. He was the guy who put the Tom Brady baby goat pictures on all the O-line’s backs in training camp. It was he who commissioned the MHK painting in 2011 and presented it to Mr. Kraft. Matt Light was the ultimate good guy who never thought he’d be an NFL player but had a long career and walked away under his own terms. And by the time he’d been in the league a year longer than Aaron Hernandez, he owned three rings. And besides maybe the time he ripped Channing Crowder’s helmet off, he never made an enemy. Except Aaron Hernandez. If I’m the DA, I’d just call Light to the stand, let him tell the jury he always thought Hernandez was a punk, and that’s all the evidence I’ll need. All we can hope for is more of his ex-teammates coming forward with the real skinny on this maniac because I bet he didn’t have a single friend in that locker room. Being a possible serial killer is bad enough. But a lousy teammate? That’s unforgivable. @JerryThornton1
PS. No matter who else tries to take credit, I invented Hernandizing:
