When Bill Belichick was blamed for Aaron Hernandez's violent, tragic career – “No cost is too high”  

There's no denying that Bill Belichick has a winning mentality. The New England Patriots head coach has won six Super Bowl titles, but he is sometimes criticized for being too tough on his players.

In fact, Belichick was once blamed by Bob Brookover of The Philadelphia Inquirer for Aaron Hernandez's tragic NFL career.

Hernandez committed suicide in his cell at Souza-Baranowski in Central Massachusetts on 19 April 2017. The late tight end had a troubled past even before the Patriots drafted him in 2010.

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What did Bob Brookover write about Bill Belichick and Aaron Hernandez?

In January 2018, Brookover wrote an article on the Patriots and Belichick when they reached the Super Bowl. He also highlighted that the team would have known of Hernandez's mental issues but still kept him on their roster for three seasons because of his ability on the field.

Here are some of the key bits from Brookover's article, which is titled "Maybe it's no coincidence that Aaron Hernandez tragedy happened to Patriots."

"Spygate and Deflategate fall into those categories, but the one subject they want to skirt more than any other is the violent and tragic career of the late Aaron Hernandez. Perhaps that's because Hernandez's draft selection, despite bright red flags everywhere, is a reflection of how winning means everything to the Patriots and no cost is too high."

"The shame of the matter is that the Patriots, and specifically coach Bill Belichick, acted as if they could not possibly know something so awful would ever happen despite the fact that Hernandez had a troubled past at the University of Florida and in his hometown of Bristol, Conn."

Earlier this year, reports claimed that Aaron Hernandez had a brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. The issue has been connected to head injuries and violent sports like football.

It is believed that CTE can cause individuals to be aggressive or even hostile.

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Aaron Hernandez's NFL stats

The New England Patriots picked Aaron Hernandez in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The tight end played three seasons with the team and racked up 1,956 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns on 175 receptions.

However, Hernandez's career came to an abrupt end in 2013 when he was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd.