Psychologist analyzes where NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s death may have started

It has been more than seven years since former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez committed suicide after being convicted of murder in Massachusetts. As a new series refocuses attention on the case, a forensic psychologist believes his traumatic childhood and significant brain injuries may have been factors in his fall from sporting stardom.

“I think people look at this and think, ‘This man had everything to live for. He was in the NFL. …How could he do this?’ But what people don’t understand is that psychologically, when people go through an encounter early in life, it can really impact the way they feel about themselves and the way they express anger, emotion, and even your impulse control,” says forensic psychologist. Helen Smith told Fox News Digital.

In 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder along with five gun charges in the death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.

Hernandez was also charged in another double homicide case in 2014, but was acquitted in 2017. He was accused of murdering Daniel de Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28, in a shooting outside a Boston nightclub in July 2012. .

Days after the acquittal, Hernandez was found dead, hanging in his prison cell, and his death was ruled a suicide.

The former NFL star’s downfall is reexamined in Hulu FX’s latest series, “American Sports Story.” The show “explores different aspects of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide and his legacy in sports and American culture,” according to the streaming service’s description.

After his death, Hernandez was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE.

Ann McKee, a professor of neurology and pathology who studied Hernandez’s brain at the time, said he had the most severe case of CTE she had ever seen in someone his age.

“It’s an intrinsic component of football,” she said. “Every time you experience an attack or collision, these rapid forces will affect the brain. … That’s one of the difficulties of keeping football safe.”

CTE is a disease found in athletes and other people who have suffered repeated concussions and other brain trauma associated with dementia, mood swings and aggression.

“Brain injury usually comes from a concussion or from hitting your head multiple times. And while these injuries can damage the frontal lobes, they can make people more prone to depression and some aggression,” Smith said.

“But, until now, there has been no serious or definitive link between someone’s specific behavior, such as murder. As of now, you can link this to maybe this was part of what happened in Aaron Hernandez, his case. But was it ultimately the only thing that led to his downfall into these murders? Probably not. I would say it’s a combination of all factors.”

Hernandez’s brother, Jonathan Hernandez, wrote about these factors and his brother’s childhood and secrets in his book, “The Truth About Aaron: My Journey to Understanding My Brother.”

In the book, Jonathan revealed that Aaron was sexually molested by an older boy as a child.

“I did therapy with men who went through this and it is extremely traumatic. And in every case I can think of, every one of these men that this happened to, at least the men that saw me, had violent or angry tendencies that they were dealing with,” Smith said.

“That early experience of Aaron Hernandez having an older teenager maybe physically and maybe violently abusing him definitely could have set the stage.”

She believes Hernandez’s young age was a key factor in the lasting impact of such abuse.

“This boy abused him, and being a 6-year-old boy and having someone of the same sex abuse you at that time, I think that affects a boy extremely deeply,” Smith explained. “A 6-year-old child cannot process this type of information and is at a stage where things seem black and white, which can even keep them stagnant at that stage.”

Hernandez’s brother shared in his book that their father violently abused them when they were boys.

“He considers his father to be protective, and not only is his father not protecting him, but he is abusing him, beating him,” Smith said. “The fact that he had a father who couldn’t control himself meant he learned, and it might even be genetic.”

Smith believes domestic violence and his father’s premature death were factors that influenced Hernandez’s later behavior.

“When he was 16, his father tragically died… and that probably set him on the right path. … After his father died, it was almost like, ‘Who do I blame now? she said. “He had all this anger inside him, all these things that happened to him, and my father was gone. And then that anger can be turned against any male figure or masculine person who comes into his life, who disrespects him, who maybe said something negative to him.”

Jonathan also revealed in the book that when Aaron was behind bars, he confided in his mother that he was gay.

“I hated living in secret and I hated all the lies, but I felt like I had to do all these things because people wouldn’t accept me,” Aaron said, according to Jonathan’s book. “There was no way I could come out as an NFL player.”

“He tried to hide from the world just as he wanted to hide from his father the part of him that was abused. And then at the same time he gets angry because he wants to be who he is,” Smith said. “He couldn’t protect himself when he was younger… and now he’s maybe at the point, as a grown man, where he can say, ‘Look, I’m going to protect myself no matter what.’ But he goes too far.”

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free, confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can call the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.