Urban Meyer defends himself, Florida over Hernandez accusations

With Aaron Hernandez's recent arrest on murder charges, it's normal for people to start looking for people that could have made a difference. Naturally, Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators' coaching staff is now under the spotlight with allegations flying around that they gave Hernandez special treatment when he was with the Gators.

Those are allegations that Urban Meyer, now Ohio State's head coach, adamantly denies, finally breaking his silence on the matter by texting The Columbus Dispatch.

"Prayers and thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim," Meyer texted. "Relating or blaming these serious charges to the University of Florida, myself or our staff is wrong and irresponsible."

"I just received an email from a friend where there is an accusation of multiple failed drug tests by Hernandez covered up by University of Florida or the coaching staff. This is absolutely not true," Meyer continued. "Hernandez was held to the same drug testing policy as every other player."

Meyer has been criticized of late as being too relaxed when it comes to off-the-field issues, and allegations of multiple failed drug tests by Hernandez certainly don't help Meyer's case any.

"He was an athlete at Florida 4 -7 yrs ago and there are some comments being made that are not correct," Meyer’s text continued. "Our staff, myself and our families worked very hard to mentor and guide him."

While Urban Meyer continues to play defense, reports will continue to swirl about various incidents in the past that included Aaron Hernandez, and we'll continue to wonder if something could have been done to help him before it was too late.

About Shane Clemons

Shane Clemons came from humble beginnings creating his own Jaguars blog before moving on to SBNation as a featured writer for the Jaguars. He then moved to Bloguin where he briefly covered the AFC South before taking over Bloguin's Jaguars blog. Since the inception of This Given Sunday, Shane has served as an editor for the site, doing his best not to mess up a good thing.

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