In the wake of Aaron Hernandez's arraignment for the murder of Boston native Odin Lloyd, few have supported the former New England Patriots tight end publicly, until his one-time Patriots teammate Deion Branch expressed his "love" for Hernandez.

"Aaron is a great guy and a great friend of mine and a great teammate," Branch told The Albany Herald on Saturday. "I love him to death, and it was shocking to hear his name involved in this situation. I truly hope and pray he doesn't have any dealings with it."

But Branch made it clear that whoever was responsible for Lloyd's death should face the consequences.

Nobody deserves to walk, whoever the person is that did it," Branch said. "Most of all, what we as Americans need to understand is that is somebody's child that was a victim. That's somebody's dad, and my prayers and thoughts go out to his family."

Branch played with Hernandez for two-and-a-half seasons on a team that some say Hernandez's demeanor clashed with at times. Boston Globe's Ben Volin pointed out that Hernandez wasn't a good fit off the field with his team and recounted one incident, during Hernandez's first season with the Patriots, when the Connecticut native crossed the line and berated teammate Wes Welker in a scathing response to a locker-room scolding.

Another of Hernandez's ex-teammates left tackle Matt Light, who played with the tight end for one season, also said the now accused murderer carried himself in a manner Light didn't approve of.

"I never talk about other guys," Light told Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News on Tuesday, "but I will say I have never embraced -- never believed in -- anything Aaron Hernandez stood for."

Hernandez's troubles date back to his days in college, according to SI.com The sports website uncovered two occurrences involving firearms and the police, which the professional athlete was linked to. He was also involved in a civil lawsuit by a man that accused Hernandez of a shooting that caused the plaintiff to lose an eye.

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