Mike Pouncey writes emotional tribute to Aaron Hernandez: 'My heart hurts'

By Sports Illustrated and SI Wire/Sports Illustrated
Published

After learning that his close friend Aaron Hernandez had committed suicide in a Massachusetts jail, Dolphins center Mike Pouncey shared an emotional tribute to his former college teammate.

“To my friend my brother! Through thick and thin right or wrong we never left each other's side,” Pouncey wrote on Instagram. “Today my heart hurts as I got the worse news I could have imagined. It was just a day ago we shared our last convo. I will forever miss you and love you bro. we will meet again rest easy!”

An error occurred while retrieving the Instagram post. It might have been deleted.

Hernandez was found hung in his prison cell Wednesday morning. He was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. 

Pouncey, who played with Hernandez in college at Florida, was served a subpoena in the case after a 2013 game in New England. Pouncey testified before a grand jury in the case but not at Hernandez’s trial. 

In Hernandez’s recent trial for the 2012 double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, prosecutors introduced into evidence phone calls between Hernandez and Pouncey, claiming they indicated Hernandez’s guilt. Hernandez was found not guilty in that case last week.