Aaron Hernandez is was a Pro Bowl tight end for the New England Patriots, one of the premier franchises in the NFL, king of not just football, but sports in general in the United States. Less than a year ago, he signed a five-year contract extension that came with a $12.5 million signing bonus.
Odin Lloyd played linebacker for the Boston Bandits of the New England Football League, a 20-year old semi-professional comprised of working individuals who didn't want to totally give up the game. In his day job he was a landscaper.
The Bandits play their home games at Madison Park High School near the Boston Harbor, and players have to buy their own helmet and equipment and pay his own travel.
Reports indicate that Lloyd, 27, was friends with Hernandez and several other members of the Patriots, and that he was dating Shanea Jenkins, the sister of Hernandez' girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins. He had played for the Bandits since 2007, in part because his former coach at the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Roxbury (near Boston) was coach of the team.
According to the Boston Globe, Lloyd had found himself in court twice before. Once in 2008 for a fight, and once in 2010 when he was accused of breaking and entering. Both cases were dismissed.
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