Rob Gronkowski has not spoken much about his former teammate Aaron Hernandez, who ended up being charged with murder, but during his appearance on The Ringer's 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt, Gronkowski admitted that he "was definitely shook" when he heard the news about his fellow tight end.
"Because, being his teammate and everything—you really don't see that," he added. "You're not really looking into players like that ... that's who they are, or that's what they're doing."
Gronk said that Hernandez was "a great football player" but noted "that does not mean anything" when it comes to who a person is in the real world.
Hernandez spent nearly three seasons with the Patriots before everything began to fall apart, as he was arrested in June 2013 in connection to the murder of Odin Lloyd, whose body was found not far from Hernandez's home in Massachusetts.
While waiting on trial for Lloyd's murder, he was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a jury found him guilty in the murder of Lloyd. He died by suicide in prison shortly after being acquitted in the double homicide.
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