New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft responded to a recent Rolling Stone article about former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Thursday, saying the story contained a number of factual errors.
"Reading the article, there were two, three, four things in particular that I saw that are completely, factually inaccurate," Kraft said on WBZ-FM, via The Boston Globe. "I don't know the facts around the other pieces of the story, but it really makes me question it."
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The magazine article alleged that Hernandez flew to the NFL Scouting Combine in February to tell Patriots coach Bill Belichick that the tight end's life was in danger. Belichick reportedly responded by telling Hernandez to rent a second apartment for safety.
Kraft asked Belichick about it Thursday.
"I saw Bill today and asked, 'Did Aaron ever tell you his life was in danger?' He's like, 'Absolutely not,' " Kraft said. "If a player had told Bill that his life was in danger, Bill would say, 'We're calling (security chief) Mark Briggs, we're calling the authorities.' His response wouldn't be, 'We're going to get a safe house and you're going to lie low.' I know Bill, that's not what he would say."
Kraft also said Belichick never threatened to cut Hernandez if he slipped up one more time.
"If we had known what people seem to think what we know about Aaron Hernandez, we would not have done that deal (the five-year, $40 million extension he signed last year), and Bill would never threaten a player with being cut 12 months down the road," Kraft said. "It makes no sense both in terms of how you're interacting with the player and in terms of the (salary) cap."
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