New England Patriots fans took advantage of the jersey exchange program offered by the team, for any fan interested in getting rid of their old #81 and #85 jerseys - Aaron Hernandez's old numbers - as the team and the league further disassociates themselves from the tight end.
Hernandez stands accused of the execution-style murder of Odin Lloyd as well as being investigated for his involvement in a double homicide in Boston's South End neighborhood, which officials feel may be linked to Lloyd's murder.
"I think it was very impressive how the Kraft organization cut ties with him," said Patriot ticket holder, Laurie Tantillo, of East Taunton, Massachusetts, to USA TODAY. "He is a talented ballplayer, regardless. But no matter what, we just can't allow that here in New England. That behavior is unacceptable. I thought it sent a really good message to youth."
By 5 PM Saturday, the team had exchanged over 1,200 jerseys - including 300 youth jerseys, with fans most replacing them with Vince Wilfork, Tom Brady, Chandler Jones, and Stevan Ridley official team gear.
By Monday, ESPN business reporter Darren Rovell reported, via Twitter, that the Hernandez jersey exchange program had cost New England "conservatively" $250,000.
Patriots estimate Aaron Hernandez jersey exchange conservatively cost them $250,000. I had a $200K estimate on returns last week
— darren rovell (@darrenrovell) July 9, 2013
Amanda Carriere, Woonsocket, Rhode Island, took advantage of the team's offer, going to the Patriots ProShop at Gillette Stadium with her 5-year-old son Antonio to get him a new jersey.
"He wasn't going to understand why we had to get rid of his old jersey, and I didn't really want to go into details. He's too young for it," said Carriere to USA TODAY. "I just told him that it didn't fit any more. I didn't want to go into specifics. He doesn't know really what's going on."
The New England Patriots are not the only ones re-writing history as it concerns Hernandez. NFL.com has erased all of Hernandez's stats from their Web site. EA Sports announced on Monday that Hernandez will be deleted out of the upcoming Madden NFL 25 video game as well as scrub his presence from the forthcoming NCAA Football 14 as best as possible.
"We made a decision to remove Aaron Hernandez from Madden NFL 25 and NCAA Football 14. Because NCAA Football 14 was finalized prior to our decision, Hernandez' image still appears in the Nike Skills Trainer," said an EA Sports spokesperson to CBSSports.com. "The image of Hernandez will be removed via a Title Update in the near future."
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