On May 5th we saw the Roast of Tom Brady air on Netflix. In the days since we’ve seen some backlash for a few specific moments. Jeff Ross being chastised live by Brady for a Robert Kraft joke and Kim Kardashian being mercilessly (and rightfully) booed are two that have had people talking. However it’s another person who will be forever linked to Brady that has gotten some people (actually literally just 1 person) upset about some of the jokes at their expense: Aaron Hernandez. Shayanna Jenkins, Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée and mother of his child, expressed her disappointment to TMZ and why she’s upset about the jokes.
She was upset mostly her daughter is getting older now, which means “she’ll likely see what was said about her late father.” Not sure how this woman thought the trajectory of her daughter finding out about her father was going to go, but I don’t think a Netflix Roast really caused any major rift in the timing. In fact, his fiancée might need an overall reality check about her Aaron Hernandez before complaining anymore.
Aaron Hernandez
For anyone unfamiliar with Aaron Hernandez, he was a 4th round draft pick for the New England Patriots whose promising career was cut short by…
*checks notes*
…murdering a man.
Contrary to what Ms. Jenkins wants her daughter to believe, Hernandez was not a stand-up guy. Unless you count when he stood up behind Odin Lloyd and shot him execution-style. He was sentenced to life in prison for that murder, where he allegedly found a new relationship with a fellow male inmate. I’m sure there were a few occasions where he stood up behind him, as well. Also, his recreational activity of choice while incarcerated was heavy abuse of the drug K2, even needing medical attention for it at some point.
In Ms. Jenkins defense, the murder conviction was vacated for a brief time, so she can let her daughter know that for a little over a year, her father was technically an innocent man. This was due to a brilliant legal move on Hernandez’s part, called abatement ab initio. Basically, all it takes is for a defendant to appeal a court decision, and then during the appeal… die. Chess not checkers from the Hernandez legal camp, as Aaron hung himself in his cell in April, 2017. The conviction was ultimately reinstated in 2019 after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court implemented the ruling of common sense.
So to recap, Aaron Hernandez is an ex-NFL tight end who committed murder and then killed himself while in prison where he had a relationship with another man and smoked K2 around the clock.
Not great. Though we shouldn’t judge him on those facts alone.
Repeat Offender
A man cannot be defined by just a few moments in life. If his fiancée wants to ignore certain aspects when telling her daughter the tale of her father, there’s plenty of other tidbits she can use. This includes the 18 TDs he caught in his career, or the 2012 double homicide in Boston he was involved in. Maybe she wants to talk about how he was a first-team All-American while in college, or that he shot a guy in the face to stop him from testifying in 2013. She can even bring up childhood memories! Such as how when they lived in California Jenkins had to call the police two times in one week, stating Aaron was being drunk and violent. The list of his accomplishments is never-ending. Well, almost never-ending since it technically ended with his prison cell suicide.
Shayanna Jenkins
Maybe we need to understand who Shayanna is to truly get why she is so upset. She is both the mother of Aarons daughter and his forever fiancée, as they never were legally married. This is because the only knot Aaron ever tied was around his neck the day he hung himself in prison. Aside from her relationship to Aaron, she is also the sister of the woman Odin Lloyd (the guy Hernandez murdered) was dating at the time of his death. Shayanna of course supported Aaron during the trial, causing a rift in the family.
Seeing as to how important family is to her, it’s also not surprising to learn that Shayanna has been accused of improperly spending her daughters trust fund. This includes lavish clothes and personal care (spas and gyms) for herself. Perhaps she should hope that her daughter isn’t too old to understand what “misappropriation of funds” means. She’ll let her find that out for herself when she turns 25 and sees her mother depleted almost her entire trust.
When her daughter does stumble upon the truth about her father, she’ll also be upset to know her own mother allegedly disposed of the murder weapon. She then proceeded to lie about it in court, eventually being charged with perjury. Luckily that was dropped when she agreed to testify against Hernandez, albeit with vague answers or a constant inability to recall certain things. No jokes were made about this at the roast though, so I’m sure she’s hoping her daughter never finds out.
Aaron Hernandez Jokes at the Tom Brady Roast
Unfortunately for Shayanna, nothing is off limits during a celebrity roast. Since Aaron Hernandez was a teammate of Brady, he was fair game. So there were plenty of Aaron Hernandez jokes at the Tom brady Roast. These are just a few examples of the best.
Nikki Glaser, asking Randy Moss why he doesn’t have a ring:
“What the hell, man? You’re one of the best ever. Drew Bledsoe has a ring. Aaron Hernandez had a ring… around his neck.”
Former Patriot Julian Edelmen:
“Everyone always asks me how big Gronk’s dick is. Now don’t get me wrong, it gets the job done. But there was this other Patriots tight end. Now he was hung”
Even Tom Brady got in on it:
“The bar for a Patriots tight end was pretty low back then. Block. Catch. Don’t murder.”
And the best was Tony Hinchcliffe, who said of Kevin Harts height:
“All night, he’s been using the stool that Aaron Hernandez kicked out from under himself.”
The Truth Hurts
Maybe in the end Shayanna needs to realize that she wasn’t engaged to a very good person. As much as she’d like to, you can’t rewrite history. Aarons daughter was always going to one day learn the truth about her dad. Shayanna’s anger is misplaced, as she called the roast “cruel” for it’s jokes at his expense. I think most rational people can agree murdering someone in cold blood is slightly more cruel. It’s not like she didn’t know who he was as a person when she was with him. He didn’t have the cleanest track record, even if we forget the whole murder thing.
Again, her concern is her daughter is of the age where she can access the internet, worrying she’ll see what was said about her father during the roast. I’m confused what she thought her daughter would see if she googled “Aaron Hernandez” if the roast had never happened. I’m sure the word “roast” still would have appeared, as that’s what he’s most likely doing right now, roasting in Hell, for being such giant piece of shit while he was alive. Good thing she has her daughters trust fund to help her get through this. At least until the inevitable Roast of Aaron’s college QB, Tim Tebow.
Thanks for reading! For more sports content, visit Belly Up Sports and follow me on X, @RyanCapalbo. Featured image: Getty Images
