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Episodes five and six of The Dynasty: New England Patriots dropped on Apple TV+ on Friday morning, continuing the 10-episode docuseries recapping the greatest run in sports history that took place in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Here are some rapid reactions, nuggets, and takeaways from Episode Six: At All Costs:
– The opening to Episode six is the most chilling scene in the entire docuseries.
The directors and producers of The Dynasty have been touting the thousands of hours of never-before-seen footage. The clips at the beginning of Episode Six: At All Costs are some of the eeriest.
Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who is the center of attention for this piece of the New England docuseries puzzle, was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd on June 26, 2013 and was released from the team that same day.
– Former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch, who was close to Hernandez, is very powerful in this episode.
Deion Branch, who played for the Patriots from 2002-2005 and returned in 2010, was reportedly close to Hernadez during his him in New England.
“I hope people don’t take this the wrong way,” Branch says in the docuseries. “You only know what someone is to the core, and you can only judge them by what you see. I have some moments where I’m just like, you should have seen that. Like, Deion you should have seen that.”
– For all of the flak the Patriots have gotten for their drafts, they nailed the top of 2010.
Owner Robert Kraft constantly mentions the fact that the Patriots need to draft well, and he said it again in The Dynasty:
“To be competitive, you have to do well in the draft.” That’s exactly what New England did in 2010 with their first two picks in Devin McCourty and Rob Gronkowski.
“For me it was an honor to be a part of that class, man,” said McCourty. It was time for the new regime, the new guard, to come in here and to let go of some of the older guys.”
“When I was drafted to the Patriots,” said Gronkowski. “t was a proud moment. My family came on stage as well. We got in a huddle, we were doing ‘hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo’ in the huddle jumping up and down.”
– Bill Belichick & co. got on Gronk early.
We all know the legend of goofball Rob Gronkowski and his up-and-down relationship with Bill Belichick. What we didn’t know about, until now, is the phone call between the two on draft day:
“And then all of a sudden I get a phone call from the Patriots,” Gronk explains. “And they said, ‘Hey Rob, you can get off the stage now. Enough is enough.’ And I’m sitting there like, ‘Wow. I’m already in trouble! It’s been five minutes since I’ve been on the Patriots and I’m already in trouble!’”
“I can picture Bill in that draft room, just being like, ‘Why the f— did we just draft this kid.’”
– A look at Aaron Hernandez.
It doesn’t feel appropriate to opine on what happened with Aaron Hernandez and his murder of Odin Lloyd. However, I do still want to pull some nuggets and quotes from the rest of the episode. Here are a few:
-- Bob Hohler, an investigative sports reporter for the Boston Globe who was involved in their Hernandez reporting in 2018, was a mainstay in Episode Six. He details how former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer plucked him from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut at the age of 17, “still troubled beyond anyone’s belief,” and with the help of “a fixer” was able to get out of trouble. Hohler says this introduced him to “Football Inc.”
-- At the NFL’s 2010 Rookie Symposium, Hernandez asked speaker Cris Carter what changes he made to his life following getting cut by the Eagles. Carter, ironically, says he told his old friends to stop calling him.
-- A chilling quote from Robert Kraft to Bill Belichick prior to the 2012 season: “I was most impressed with Hernandez, how he came in today. I think he’s got such a good heart. He's a good guy. He told me he had to be careful with the people around him now. He recognized it himself. He’s come into so much money.”
-- Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker’s recollection of how Hernandez acted in the building essentially tells a story of how the Patriots enabled the tight end. “When you’re that talented, a lot of people will put up with a lot of stuff,” said Welker.
-- “It reminded me of being on teams where they let the star players do what they wanna do,” Lloyd explained. “It doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win.”
-- Lloyd says, “Aaron was always up to something at night time. All the warnings were, ‘Do not hang out with Chico [Hernandez]. Do not hang out with Chico.’ That was the code. ‘For your own safety, do not hang out with Aaron.’ So something was known.
-- “We had a number of people on the staff who knew he was spending time with friends of his from his hometown of Bristol, Connecticut,” explained Ernie Adams. “And Aaron was making references to hanging with his boys from Bristol. A lot of people didn’t think this was a very good situation for him.
– Robert Kraft originally wanted to help Hernandez with his case, says he was “snookered” by the former tight end.
“Aaron and I, we had a genuine feeling of connection. And love,” Kraft explained of his relationship with Hernandez. “Every time he’d see me, he would kiss me on the cheek. I mean, this is something I do with my sons. I think he viewed me, you know sort of as a loving, paternal figure.”
“I felt he was what we wanted as the perfect Patriot player,” he later said.
When Hernandez was deemed a suspect in the murder of Odin Lloyd, Hernandez still showed up to the Patriots facility to work out.
“I found out he was working out in the weight room,” Kraft explained. “I went down immediately and I said, ‘Aaron tell me, did you do this? Because if you did, I know you must have had some good reason. I’m gonna get you the best defense lawyer we can get and I’ll do it at my cost. And he looked me right in the eye, not blinking, anything, and said, ‘Mr. Kraft I didn’t do that, I was in Rhode Island,’ or something. And when he said it, I believed him. He actually changed my life and how I look at people because it just– I, to this day, I can’t believe I got snookered like that.”
– Aaron Hernandez requested a trade from the Patriots, which Bill Belichick didn’t act on.
According to the Boston Globe’s Bob Hohler, Hernandez requested a trade from the Patriots, telling Belichick that, “his girlfriend and his daughter’s safety was in jeopardy.” Belichick asked if he wanted help from the team’s security, but Hernandez said no. He wanted to be sent to the West Coast.
When asked about this, Belichick said, “Yeah, it’s an unfortunate situation about Aaron and I don’t have anything to add to it.”
– Robert Kraft apologies for what happened with Aaron Hernandez.
The chilling episode ends with a few words from owner Robert Kraft:
“When we bought the team, I said that we could make a difference in our community and make things better. We didn’t in this case. There are parents who wake up every day without their sons. And a young daughter without her father.”
“We messed up in this one, and for those of you who feel pain, I apologize.”
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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