Quote Originally Posted by Tbonewannabe View Post
Just goes to show how hard it is to get away from that gang culture.
I don't think he grew up around gang culture. It seems he was a wannabe gangster and sought it out.

From a Dan Wetzel article:
Hernandez grew up in a two-parent home until his father's death when he was 16. The home sits on a hill in Bristol, basketball hoop in the drive way, fence out front, small yard the boys had to mow and rake as the seasons came and went. The kids would lift weights in the basement and run gassers up the hill, preparing for the big-time. Around the corner is where Shayanna grew up, elementary school classmates and an on-again, off-again couple since junior high.

And yet when he got out of the University of Florida, he decided to pal up with Bradley, an East Hartford (Conn.) marijuana trafficker. When Hernandez made it to the NFL he decided to befriend the street life. Hernandez?s story is the strangest of them all. He wasn't dragged back down by his hometown or old gang ties or anything like it ? he sought it out. Bradley and his friends used to mock him for his cushy upbringing and comparatively quiet hometown, best known as the home of ESPN.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/aaron-h...143616551.html