After granting an exclusive interview to Esquire a month ago—which featured some revealing facts about the late NFL star—Aaron Hernandez‘s lawyer Jose Baez has dropped three more bombshells.
According to The New York Times, after doctors researched Hernandez’s brain following his suicide, it was revealed that he had a severe case of CTE, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes like football and hockey players, who receive repeated blows to the head. In fact, it was the most severe case ever found in a 27-year-old—stage 3 of 4. (CTE was found in Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau’s brain; Seau also committed suicide, but at age 43.)
The other two bombshells? Baez has filed a pair of federal lawsuits against the New England Patriots and NFL in Hernandez’s daughter’s name.
Just before his suicide, Hernandez had been acquitted of murder charges (he was serving a life sentence for another murder, which his lawyer has had posthumously thrown out).
The Times notes that Hernandez’s family could have a shot at a major payout; players younger than 45 found to have CTE by the NFL have been awarded up to $4 million.
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