Rob Gronkowski has spoken publicly about the murder charge of late former New England Patriots teammate Aaron Hernandez for the first time in nearly eight years.
Hernandez, who played the tight end position opposite Gronkowski, was arrested on murder charges and suspended by the Patriots in 2013.
The former University of Florida standout was convicted in the killing of Odin Loyd in 2015 and killed himself while in jail on April 27 at the age of 27.
Gronkowski, now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, addressed the incident during an appearance on 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt podcast on Wednesday (March 17) alongside his girlfriend, supermodel Camille Kostek.
"Aaron was a great player. He was a great football player. But, I mean, I get questions like that all the time about him and everything. And with everything going on, I was definitely shook when I heard that, when I heard everything about it. Because being his teammate and everything and you just, you really don't see that. You're not really looking into players like 'that's who they are' or 'that's what they're doing.' But just overall I just try to keep it simple and light. He was a great football player but that does not mean anything. You learn from other people, too."
Gronkowski and Hernandez were two of the NFL's best tight ends after both were selected by the Patriots in the 2010 NFL Draft and played together until Hernandez's suspension in 2013.
Gronkowski appeared in an interview with 'CBS This Morning' a month after Hernandez was charged and declined to answer questions about his former teammate.
Hernandez was the subject of the 2020 Netflix docuseries, 'Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez,' which detailed the former tight end's upbringing, the incident, charges and aftermath of the case and conviction.
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