Aaron Hernandez was one of eight players who graduated high school early to join the powerhouse University of Florida football team. Six of them would go on to play in the NFL. Forget the senior prom, it was time to learn a playbook as thick as a dictionary. But perhaps the most important lesson he learned was after he got into a bar fight his freshman year: when you're a football player, actions don’t always have consequences.

For more information on issues raised by this series, including suicide prevention, mental health, LGBTQ+ support, and concussion and sports safety, here is a list of support groups and educational organizations

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