Unfortunately, the sad saga that is Aaron Hernandez has seen its sordid fingers reach into the game of college football yet again.
The former Florida and New England Patriots tight end, charged with first-degree murder late last month, has an older brother, D.J., who is an assistant on Kirk Ferentz‘s Iowa coaching staff. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, D.J. Hernandez was mistaken for his younger brother in the early morning hours at a Connecticut diner Saturday.
A fight ensued, and three individuals were arrested following the altercation. The Hawkeyes tight ends coach was not one of those arrested.
It’s unclear, though, how many if any of the three men were with Hernandez.
“It was just customers who thought it was Aaron Hernandez. That’s how the fight actually started,” a diner employee told the Press-Citizen. “They thought it was Aaron Hernandez himself.
“And then someone said, ‘No it’s his brother,’ and then a fight broke out. But whoever the person was, if it was D.J. Hernandez … (he was) not involved in the actual fight.”
As D.J. Hernandez was neither involved in the skirmish nor arrested and charged, Iowa will have no comment on the situation.
Over the weekend, the Gainesville Police Department confirmed that Aaron Hernandez was one of a handful of then-Gator players who were “questioned very briefly” in regards to a 2007 shooting in Gainesville. Nobody has been charged in connection to that case and it remains an open investigation.
(Photo credit: Iowa athletics)