Aaron Hernandez: Tim Tebow Replaces Accused Murderer in Sticker Book [FREE Tebow Sticker Download]
Aaron Hernandez's once celebrated football career took another hit now that a trading-card company is replacing his stickers with that of Tim Tebow.
The sports memorabilia company, Panini America, said it's offering its customers a sticker of New England Patriots backup quarterback Tim Tebow to replace his former Florida Gators football teammate Aaron Hernandez. There are reportedly more than 500,000 stickers of Hernandez in the company's trading-card books.
"Panini America officials announced today that beginning with next month's release of 2013 Rookies & Stars Football, the company has replaced Aaron Hernandez in its future 2013 NFL products with new New England Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow," the company said in a statement on its website.
Panini had "painstakingly" removed Hernandez stickers from 500,000 of its sticker books, which were manufactured before the 23-year-old former tight end was charged with murder, according to ESPN.
The football books, which have not been released to stores as of yet, contain stickers of 10 players, one of which was Hernandez. But the company has now manufactured one million stickers of Tebow to be circulated at sports events or to those who have purchased Hernandez stickers as part of the company's trading-card packages.
"We felt strongly that making these changes was the right thing to do, for Panini and our products but, more importantly, for our fans and collectors," Jason Howarth, Panini's vice president of marketing, told ESPN.
Fans who want to replace their Hernandez sticker with one that features Tebow should send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Panini America, Tim Tebow Sticker Swap, 5325 FAA Blvd., Suite 100, Irving, Texas 75061.
The company has also posted the Tebow sticker on its website and is allowing it to be download for FREE.
Download a copy of the Tebow stick here.
