National Football League

Stephen A. Smith makes Hernandez comparison with Brady

Published May. 18, 2015 1:32 p.m. ET

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By Steve DelVecchio

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t care that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady told Robert Kraft he is innocent in the Deflategate scandal. You know why? Because Aaron Hernandez told Kraft the same thing.

On Monday morning’s edition of ESPN’s “First Take,” Smith came awfully close to comparing someone who allegedly had “general” knowledge of football tampering to a convicted felon who is behind bars serving a first-degree murder sentence.

[See the video here]

“It’s very uncomfortable, but it needs to be said,” Smith began. “Aaron Hernandez told Robert Kraft he was innocent, too.”

No, it really didn’t need to be said. But don’t worry, Smith wasn’t comparing Brady to Hernandez.

“I’m not comparing Aaron Hernandez to Tom Brady,” he added. “Please don’t take that the wrong way.”

Is it possible that both Hernandez and Brady lied to Kraft? Of course, but there’s one fairly significant difference between the two situations. If Hernandez admitted he was guilty of killing Odin Lloyd, he would have gone straight to federal prison. If Brady admitted he had knowledge of footballs being deflated, he could have simply apologized and everyone would eventually move on.

Believe it or not, Brady’s track record is a bit more respectable than Hernandez’s. Even before Hernandez was convicted of murder, he had a checkered past that involved drug use and other illegal activity. I’d venture to say Brady doesn’t deserve that comparison.

As we know, Smith is the same guy who was once suspended for making these idiotic comments about domestic violence. Nonsense coming out of his mouth is hardly anything new.

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