Did Pouncey's 'Free Hernandez' Hat Paint Steelers In Negative Light?
By this point, everyone has heard about former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez and his murder charges. While most people are trying to distance themselves as far away from Hernandez as possible, such as the Patriots, the NFL Hall of Fame and even EA Sports (creators of Madden NFL 25 and NCAA Football '14), there are a few athletes standing up for the tight end. Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, former teammates of Hernandez at the University of Florida, decided this past weekend to wear hats with "Free Hernandez" written on the front. Clark Judge of CBSSports.com joined Scott Ferrall to discuss the poor decision made by these two NFL players.
"This is no judgment exercised by the Pounceys. They're wearing hats saying 'Free Hernandez' which is free a guy who has been charged with first-degree murder and held without bail," Judge said. "I just think the reaction across the league is appropriate which is essentially, 'Listen, we're a professional football team. When you go out in public, you're representing us.' I think the Steelers and the Dolphins are concerned that 'Listen, that's not the message we want out there. We're not, basically, having our players go out there saying free someone that's been charged with murder.'"
Once you become a player in the National Football League, you no longer only represent yourself. You also represent your team, and the league itself. That is why the picture of the two brothers wearing hats encouraging the release of someone accused of killing another man in cold blood has been so controversial. If the Pounceys want to support their former teammate, they are 100 percent allowed to. However, they can't do it in the public way that they did over the weekend, for it portrays the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins, the employers of the brothers, in a negative light.
Click here to listen to the interview with CBS Sports Radio!
