Hey, prime members, you can listen to Gladiator, Aaron Hernandez, and Football Inc.

Add Free on Amazon Music.

Download the app today.

A listener note, this episode contains some adult language in themes.

Before Aaron Hernandez became a star in the NFL, before he was on trial for murder, he was a kid growing up in Bristol, Connecticut.

Jeff Morgan, coached his high school football team.

He was a wide receiver at that time, his first year.

You know, he was unbelievably fast, and the body on him, he was almost like at the body of a senior.

He really wasn't a freshman.

Morgan was an assistant coach at Bristol Central during Aaron Hernandez's freshman and sophomore seasons, and he was a self-described disciplinarian.

And my philosophy was no swearing on a field.

And Hernandez is sophomore year. He broke that rule.

And like I said, that was a no-no in my book on the field.

So, I told him immediately, I said, one practice is over. Meet me on the hill.

All the players knew what that meant. The hill was next to the school.

Being ordered to run that bluff was a pretty typical punishment.

And one practice was over. All the other players went in, and they were laughing at him.

And he took off his helmet and his shoulder pads, and he got on his knees, and he said, please coach, don't make me run.

That's when Morgan pulled out his cell phone.

I said, if you don't start running, I'm calling your father.

So, then he took off up the hill.

To his coach, it showed respect. Hernandez's father seems strict.

...