Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro center Maurkice Pouncey was out partying over the weekend with his twin brother Mike. True to my father’s advice that “nothing good ever happens at a night club after 1 a.m.”, both twins were photographed wearing hats emblazoned with the words “Free Hernandez.”Predictably, this sent the football news starved Internet into a feeding frenzy when the pic was reposted by virtually every major sports blog.
For those living under a rock the past month, “Hernandez” refers to Aaron Hernandez, former tight end for New England Patriots and current suspect in multiple murders. He’s also a former teammate of the Brothers Pouncey at the University of Florida aka the Cincinnati Bengals of college football. Showing support for an ex-teammate, even one as clearly guilty as Hernandez, may be colossally stupid but it is sort of understandable. What takes their choice in head wear indisputably idiotic is the fact Hernandez was a suspect in yet another shooting in Gainesville, Florida back in 2007, an incident which occurred outside a club where the Pounceys were partying with Hernandez and which the Pouncey Twins refused to cooperate with the police about afterwards.
Personally, I’m not all that upset about Pouncey’s latest escapade. The guy is the epitome of the old saying, “Million dollar body, Ten cent brain.” The fact he’s a stunningly poor judge of character should also come as no surprise. Remember he’s the genius who “vouched” for fellow Gator Chris Rainey after Rainey fell down many draft boards due to character concerns. Concerns which bore out earlier this off-season when he was arrested for pimp slapping his girlfriend leading to his subsequent release.
Crack ESPN “Insider” John Clayton reports the Steelers will be giving Maurkice a stern “talking to.” Ohhhh… Is he also going to be sent to bed without supper? Pittsburgh Steelers discipline is about as rough as being raised by a Kardashian.