The Murder of Odin Lloyd

Did we do this?  Did our blind eyes and fanatic minds in regards to the capabilities of our celebrities and athletes, our ‘heroes’, enable the murder of Odin Lloyd.

I didn’t know Odin Lloyd personally, I had no idea he existed until after his demise; I grieve for his family and the pain they must be in.  In light of what feels like a natural human emotion to mourn the passing of another person especially under such contemptible circumstances another aspect of the situation is steadily rearing its menacing glance from every web browser and tab I syphon more details on the case from; responsibility.

Malcontents such as Aaron Hernandez often end up where they are going before they have the resources and opportunity for first degree murder; but he could run, block and catch a football so his attendance with those of like mind and commitment to nefarious or idiotic behavior is excluded, truancy from the bars or glass cages that keep society safe from such peoples.  We say, confidently may I add; he has ‘character issues’, then we set him free into society with troves of riches and adoration.

Did we do this?  Is society as responsible for the murder of Odin Lloyd as Hernandez himself?

I can’t say with any true conviction; but I believe the fact that the question is a valid one by itself is an indictment of us all, the finger from the outstretched arm of an accuser indicating responsibility.  In a society where judgment by the court of public opinion can come ever so swiftly within 160 characters we turn a blind eye to the special few with the aforementioned label of ‘character issues’.  The question we should ask ourselves is if Hernandez wasn’t a superstar on the football field how much f*ckry would the world put up with.  Sometimes it feel similar to asking how many licks does it take to get the center of a tootsie pop; how many offenses does it take until someone gets killed, how much smoke do we ignore before the fire burns down something that someone will miss?  I’m sure someone will miss Odin Lloyd, but will it end there?

Did we do this?  Did we give Hernandez all the freedom necessary to take a life?  Did we give him the dollars that made him believe that it was alright to just kill someone that upsets you?  I keep asking myself; correction I keep telling myself that he was a scared after his father died and had already made the fundamental decisions within himself that would bring him to this point in his life and the end of Lloyd’s, this would have happened anyway, right?  Hernandez would be here, under far less newsworthy circumstances responsible for some calamity in Bristol, CT; of course, right?  Unfortunately, I can’t say for certain.  Assumptions can be made, while not outlandish and without merit they are just that, assumptions.  What we have here are the facts, we as a society continue to embrace the men and women we believe to be heroes and allow their ‘character issues’ to continue referenced but unchecked.  In the coming months and years those unwilling to accept responsibility will attempt to drop the blame at the NFL’s feet; Hernandez was approved by them, they did this!  They may have signed his checks but that’s far from the truth.  The NFL is a musing of society, they are held to our whims if society does not like something we can simple expunge it.  We forced the NFL to make Michael Vick pay for his crimes and by society’s decree he will never hurt another dog again.  All dogs are safe and maybe that’s what has become more important in society now, protecting those things and objects that can’t protect themselves.  There are agencies and groups of people banding together to protect the animals and trees with such tenacity that billion dollar corporations fear their might; the people though, well I guess we are all on our own; unless of course catching a football is a part of your pedigree.

Did we do this?  Did we murder Odin Lloyd?  I don’t know, I wasn’t in that industrial park that morning and I don’t know where the murder weapon is but I’m having a tough time getting all this blood off my hands.