Aaron Hernandez Abused Hard Drugs, Paranoid, Often Carried Guns: Report

Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez used angel dust and became so paranoid that he carried a gun with him wherever he went, according to a new Rolling Stone feature about the ex-football star, who has been accused of murder.

Hernandez alienated his New England Patriots teammates, hung out with notorious gangsters, and missed a number of practices and training sessions, all of which infuriated coach Bill Belichick, the magazine said.

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The story flies in the face of previous Patriots statements, which said the team knew nothing of Hernandez's lifestyle and felt "duped" by the star tight end.

"Every team knew him as a badly damaged kid with a circle of dangerous friends and a substance problem," the Rolling Stone's Paul Solotaroff wrote for the story "The Gangster in the Huddle" with Ron Borges. "Once a Patriot, Hernandez practically ran up a banner that said STOP ME! I’M OUT OF CONTROL! He’d get high all the time driving away from games, say friends of the family, 'smoking three or four blunts' in the ride back to his place."

A number of unnamed sources painted a picture of Hernandez as someone who embraced gangsters as friends, isolated himself from family, and used drugs habitually.

The breaking point came last summer, when the Patriots signed Hernandez, who was coming off a Pro Bowl season, to a $40 million contract, including a $12.5 million signing bonus, the largest contract ever given to a tight end in the NFL.

"In an alleged letter to a supporter from jail, (Hernandez) acknowledged that he 'fell off especially after making all that money,'" the Rolling Stone article stated. "With the diplomacy of a preschool kid, (Hernandez wrote) that 'all the people who turned on me will feel like crap' when they hear 'not guilty.'"

Belichick threated to trade or release Hernandez after an alleged domestic incident, according to a March Sports Illustrated story.

Hernandez remains behind bars awaiting trial in the June murder of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd and five other gun charges.

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