JohnC

. When Houston let Mario walk in the free agent market they drafted J.J. Watt. They got a better player and person for a more realistic price. The issue with the ring and his relationship with his ex was his personal business. But when he publicly accused her of gold digging he brought his private issue into the public realm. After his classless and misleading characterization of her at the podium she, through her attorney. responded with her version of the relationship that pictured him in a very unfavorable light. Mario Williams is a physical specimen. However, he isn't always a full effort player. I would glady take J.J. Watt over him. For the amount of money he is being paid he should be. Don't mistake my view of him. I'm not saying that he is a bad guy. That isn't the case. What I am saying is I'm not putting him on a pedestal.

The SEC might be the worst conference with respect to admitting unqualified students into their schools. I remember reading that Travis Henry was admitted to Tennessee as a special needs exemption. Henry was barely literate, if literate at all. How many drug tests did LSU's Honey Badger fail while remaining eligible? When he was interviewed during the draft process it was obviious that he wasn't articulate enough to maintain a half decent conversation It is a travesty addmitting these caliber of students but more of a travesty having them maintain their eligibility while playing football. It is a stark comparison when you hear female athletes being interviewed compared to their male counterparts. From an intelligence standpoint they put the men to shame.

You are prudent in your cautious approach to this case. That is the mature way to follow this evolving story. But as the investigation advances the case against AH tighens and the story line becomes clearer. As it stands the authorities don't need the cooperation of AH. His gang that couldn't shoot straight bungling has helped the authorities to solve this case. As the coverage of this case, the drive-by case in Boston and the civil case of another shooting demonstrates that AH is a thug with a remorseless gang-banging killing mentality. It is interesting to observe that not one teammate spoke on his behalf when the story first broke. Not one teammate has come out and said that he can't believe that he was capable of such a vicious crime. Vrable made some early comments that AH had his own agenda and then refused to elaborate. The Welker incident has come to light indicating that his muscle tendencies were exhibited within the team. Aaron Hernandez is a testament to the corruption and perversion in big time college sports. There is no way that he was an actual student at Florida. He flunked a number of drug tests at Florida, and was allowed to play. How was a person like him allowed to get into the school? The big time college sports system is rotten to the core. I'm not naive about big time college sports. It is more of a business than an educational endeavor. But something is wrong when such a person is allowed to represent the college. This is a ridiculous sham.

The attached link shows a thug brutally beating a woman while her children were home. The incident was caught on the family's nanny cam. This cowardly thug was caught in NYC and sent to Jersey where he will be facing serious charges and a long term stint in the slammer. This was a tough video to watch. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/millburn-home-invasion-video_n_3495317.html

The prosecutors are not going to give him any break, even a meaningless symbolic break. The reason I believe that is that he (apparently) orchestrated this assassination to silence someone he was afraid might squeal on him regarding other killings. The people who are more likely to get a "meaningless symbolic break" are his hired guns. If they verify what happened in this killing and they explain the motive for this killing (the victim's knowledge of the drive-by killing) then they might get some sort of deal. Getting some of the participants to provide the motive in this cold-hearted killing is a big deal. It provides the narrative for this case. If the hired guns help close the drive-by killing case then they have some bargaining chips. Make no mistake about it they are probably going to spend the rest of their lives in jail with a small chance of getting out. Having an infinitesimal chance of eventually getting out is better than not having a chance to get out.

Da'Rick Rogers is a very interesting example of the organization altering their approach on the type of people they would draft. He was a first to second round graded player who left Tennessee for behavior reasons. No team would even take a risk on him in the draft. We got him as an undrafted free agent. Even if he had problems with failed drug tests, which he did, there was something about the impression he made with teams that they wouldn't even be tempted to take him with a lower round pick. I have no problem with giving some troubled people an opportunity with an understanding that they are on a short leash. But if you overdo it like the Al Davis Raiders did then you are asking for trouble. No, he has no legal basis for a mitigating factor. Even if the scenario played out as you described he was aware that one of the parties had a gun. This was a case where they picked up the victim in his rented car late at night and took him for a ride to a secluded location. AH was the orchestrator of the event. He brought people from out of town to fortify his position. There is nothing (that I see) that he can lay claim to to help his very hopeless cause.

You don't have to pull the trigger to be charged with capital murder. If you are involved with the situation in a substantial way such as being in the car as a driver knowing that a shooting is going to occur you are just as culpable as the person who is the shooter. In the assassination killing it doesn't matter if he mercilessly shot the victim or somelse did. He is the one who orchestrated the crime and he was aware that a killing was going to happen. So he is just as guilty if not moreso because he orchestrated it. In the prior incident of a dirve by shooting and killing the same logic of the law applies. If he drove back to the confrontation with guns in the car looking for the victims with the end result being that his associate in the car does the shooting and killing everyone in the car can be charged with the killing. The reasoning behind the law is that you created the dangerous situation and thus you are just as responsible in the killing as the actual shooter. Another example is if you rob a store with a group of other robbers and one of your associates panics in the robbery and shoots the clerk you are just as culapable in the eyes of the law, even if you yourself didn't bring a gun to the event because you are responsible for the event that resulted in a killing.

The issue I have with your prior post is with the high % of players you believe who have serious criminal tendencies. That is where I mostly disagree with the tenor of your post. It appears that AH is a stone cold killer who might be involved in other killings. But I strongly doubt that he represents more than a miniscule number of really bad people playing in the NFL. If I felt that the sport was inhabited by a number of "sociopaths" (your friend's characterization) and the league continued to allow these type of bad characters to play I would find another sport to follow, regardless of home team loyalties. Roger Goodell has made a concerted effort to hold people accountable for their behavior on and off the field. In general I think he is doing a good job. This issue of player behavior was so important to the league that it wouldn't concede their authority to hold the players and team staff accountable for on and off the field conduct. The NFL is a high profile sport during the season and offseason. It is easy to get the impression that there is a pervasive problem of criminality when these few high profile cases get such intense exposure. But don't let these few "incredible" cases prejudice your judgment toward the league as a whole. I didn't intend to make any personal slights toward you with your first post. I hope you took my response in that spirit.

Aren't you a football fan? You are criticizing an endeavor that you avidly follow and to some extent particiipate in when you post on a football blog. If you believe that a large percentage of the participants in the game are so morally questionable then paying to go to the games, watching it or buying related gear is promoting an activity that you are harshly judging. Yes, there are bad dudes involved in the pro games and in all sports. However, the overwhelming percentage of people who are involved in the game are good people who have made supreme sacrifices to get to the highest level of the sport. A lot of attention is being given to Herandez for the evil things he has (alledgedly done). I understand why there is so much attention for this sensational case. Although the good people who play and have played in the NFL don't get a lot of publicity for their good deeds they make up the overwhelming majority of players in the sport. The former HOF Buffalo Bill, Joe Delamielleure, has done extraordinary things on behalf of people with needs. He is not a talker or self-promoter--- he is a doer of good deeds. As are many others who play in this very tough game.

A good organization can in three years dramatically change a losing team into a winning team that is a serious playoff and SB contender. The Seahawks and the Redskins had GMs who took over at the same time as Nix did. While the Bills continued to muddle along (16-32) these franchise successfully rebuilt themselves into relevant teams. One of the most essential ingredients, as you noted, for team success is having a high ceiling franchise qb. In Nix's three year tenure he demonstrated no urgency to acquire that type of qb. Another essential ingredient, as you also noted, is hiring good coaches. Nix made a very unimaginative retread hire who then proceeded to hire a lackluster staff. In this offseason the Bills used a first round pick with tools and they hired a more progressive coaching staff. That is a major qualitative change for the good. My point in my post to eball is that it is going to take time for this new staff to install their system on both sides of the ball.It is also going to take time for Manuel to develop, assuming he is going to develop. The roster assembled under the prior regimes is being significantly changed. Much has already been done and more will be done before the season starts. Manuel is not as pro ready a qb as Wilson, Luck or RGIII were when they went into the pro ranks. It is more probable that he is going to struggle more than them. I'm hoping that Manuel is like Kaepernick in that he is a raw prospect who has tools and with a reasonable development period will make an impact. My preference is to play him sooner rather than later, even if it means more losses. I would prefer that he played and learned with a 6-10 record rather than Kolb played and the Bills had an 8-8 record. Where I respectfully disagree with you and eball is that I don't believe that the Bills have as much talent as the both of you believe. Over the past 6 years the Bills record against winning teams is dismal. Without going back and doing the research it is my guess that it is in the 25-30% range. The Pats have beaten the Bills in 18 out of 20 games. Regardless of the coaching differential it clearly demonstrates talent differential. I am not a pessimist. Far from it. The incompetent owner is no longer involved in the football operation.That is a good thing. The old guard and backward approach to football represented by Jauron/Levy/Nix is gone. That also is a good thing. The new organization with Brandon as the president and Whaley as the GM is a tremendous organizational advance. From an organizational standpoint we have left the stone age and have entered the modern world. Where I disagree with you and others is that I believe it is going to take more time to be a serious team. At this point I'm happy to be moving forward instead of muddling along the same dispiriting path of mediocrity.

That is exactly what I and others are saying. From a criminal standpoint many of the posters are of the opinion that this very thin claim by a street creep has little merit. A civil case can take years before it gets to a trial stage, if it even gets to that stage. Considering the caliber and credibility of the claimant, who has not made a criminal complaint, I doubt that the procecutor would be too interested in being involved in a such a problematic case.

I'm not sure if you are referring to his history of losing his temper as the "must have" in this case. It certainly is a factor in describing what type of person he is and if he is capable of such a brutal deed. As it stands we don't know exactly what evidence the authorties have. If it is blood stains that come from the victim then that is powerful evidence against AH. There is a time-line where AH and his crew were with the victim. That certainly isn't working in their favor. Destroying the cell phone and security system don't work in the suspects favor. In a case where three or four reprobates are involved in a "savage incident" odds are that loyalty to one's self takes a priority over one's loyalty to the clan. Out of one's own preservation fingers will be pointing and mouths will be yapping. By no means is this a perfect case but it appears to be a very strong case. I'll hold to my opinion that they wouldn't get too belatedly involved in this murky incident involving a questionable character who hasn't even made a criminal complaint. That's not to say that they wouldn't open an investigation. But I don't think they would put too much effort into it. I'm not saying that I know for sure. Just an opinion.

I apologize. I thought you were referring to the Florida case impacting the New England case. Theoretically the prosecution could wait for the civil case to play out and then review the evidence. Or theoretically the prosecution could review the case and get involved. But why would they? The alleged victim didn't file a criminal complaint and still hasn't. This is a case that the prosecution's office wouldn't waste precious resources and have an overworked staff get involved in.

As BuffaloBob noted the civil case has no bearing in the current criminal case. The judge would not permit anything associated with that civil case to be introduced in this New England case when/if it gets to trial. These cases are two distinct entities that will never be allowed to mingle.

Maybe he is simply a volatile dummy? Thugs don't always act in a well reasoned way when they are killing someone.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am speculating. What is very telling is that he quickly brought in a cleaning crew. If the killing didn't happen in the house then why rush in a cleaning crew? In the issue of the killing bullet there is no reporting one way or another. As I stated in a prior posting the authorities have been impressively leak proof in this high profile case. With respect to the killing bullet there could be fragments in the victim and/or the size of the hole can give them a clue as to the type of weapon. I agree with you that there is a good chance that AH has guns that are not registered. But there is also a chance that he has a gun that is registered and he can't produce. If that is the case then that adds to the mounting circumstantial evidence working against him.

My opinion is based on speculation as it is with most others. The authorities might not find the gun that was used in the murder. But if the killing was done at AH's house then there is without a doubt blood evidence. I don't care how good the cleaning outfit is they are not going to clean all the blood from the scene, There is no doubt that the cleaning crew is going to be asked exactly where and what they cleaned up. These individuals have no interest in protecting AH and putting themselves in jeopardy. Destroying the cell phone and the security system is obviously very telling. If it can be proved that the victim was in the house or if there are blood stains that prove to be his then the group is in serious jeopardy. What the authorities do know for sure is that the suspects were seen with the victim. From my understanding (not sure) the neighbors heard gun shots late at night and if I'm not mistaken some of the neighbors witnessed AH either coming or going around that time. In addition AH destroyed his cell phone and security taping system that would have shown who entered and left the residence. As it stands right now not having the gun doesn't help the case but the circumstantial evidence and time line is lining up on behalf of the side of the authorities. It would be interesting to know if AH has a registered weapon that he can't produce for the police. If that is the case and the bullet fragments in the victim matches the gun caliber then that is another building block used against the the suspects.

The issue isn't how much talent you have so much as how much talent you have compared to the elite teams. The Bills are still in the phase of cleaning out a large segment of the players accumulated from the prior regimes. A lot has been done so far and more will be done. In another year or so there will be few Nix drafted players on this roster. You may think that the Bills are a possible playoff contending team but I don't see it. If the Bills attain a .500 record I would be happily stunned. That would make Marrone the HC of the year. Odds are it is not going to happen. Whether the Bills win 6 or 7 games is irrelevant at this point, at least to me. The team can be better and play better but that won't necessarily translate into wins. What is important is that this franchise start the rebuilding process and move forward and build on it. The problem with this troubled franchise is that it starts a rebuild and then quickly aborts and starts another rebuild. We are in a third rebuild in a decade. Simply too much instability to accomplish anything. The key to this franchise is the development of a legitimate franchise qb. If E.J. Manuel proves to be an impactful qb then there is hope. It's not about the record for this year; it's about how good your qb is and is going to be. That's where the focus should be. The first priorty of this franchise was getting the organization structured right and properly staffed.. I think Brandon has done an excellent job in that category. Until that most important issue was resolved nothing else mattered. It is going to take time. My timetable is a little longer than yours.

I think you are being overly generous in assessing where the Bills are in their rebuilding stage. For me the Bills are at least two to three years away from being a serious team. The issue for me has little to do with the team's record this year. My guess is that they are a six or seven win type of team. The most important metric that I will be judging this team by has to do with the qb play of its rookie qb. How Kolb plays means little to me. He can be an average qb at best but in the long run it gets you nowhere meaningful. If E.J. Manuel demonstrates that he can develop into being a legitimate franchise qb then from my perspective the season can be declared a success. If it appears that Manuel is overmatched and that he can't handle the position then the rebuilding process is set back. The Jauron/Levy/Brandon/Nix era is a testament to wretched mediocrity striving to be at best average. When Brandon was involved with the football operation he fit in with the lineage of fools. But taking over for the inscrutable owner as the president of the franchise he has done an impressive job of reconfiguring the organization and restaffing the organization with forward thinking people. I'm more encouraged now than ever that this staff under Whaley has an understanding of how to build a franchise. Instead of muddling along in an ad hoc fashion they have a blue print in mind and are now acting on that blue print. After looking back and observing the new HC hire and the installation of his staff, this past draft and the free agent acquisitions I get the sense that finally this organization is coming out of the stoneage and entering the modern world of the NFL of today. Is this wishful thinking? I hope not!

You just gave an excellent summary of the status of the case as it is known to the public.

Regardless of the civil suit and regardless if he is not charged with a murder there is more than enough questionable behavior that would get him severely suspended. The charge of destroying evidence in a murder case will surely have Roger G, suspend him for a very long time. Don't expect AH to play at all this season. As it stands AH has bigger things to worry about beyond playing professional football this season.

The strangest thing that can happen in this thread is you basing your claims on facts that are currently known rather than on wild speculations that you have created on your own. There are a lot of things going on that we on the outside don''t know. You have taken it to another level in reaching for the phantom facts from the nonexistent source.

Not only can they be different, they usually are different. The best way to get yourself out of the corner you put yourself in is to leave the corner you put yourself in. It is easier than you think. Being stubborn is not going to help you. Moving away from your ill-conceived position rather than firmly rationalizing it would be the smart way to go. Just trying to be helpful to a long time crony.

That is wrong. A bail and release hearing occurs after an arrest, not before.

I don't know what sparked the killing or who is most respnsible for it. It could simply be you are messing with my girlfriend's sister and I am going to make you pay. It could also be for a stupid reason such as you looked at me wrong in the bar. My suspicions is that it has to do with the victim's relationship to AH's girlfriend's sister. It appears that the police know who exactly is involved in this violent episode. It is a small circle of connected people. There is nothing random about this killing. I'm confident that the theory of the case is well established and now the conflicting claims within that circle of associations have to be sorted out.