Not shocking that this is happening but it is when you’re “innocent until proven guilty”. Former NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez is awaiting trial for murder charges against his former friend Odin Lloyd. Since his arrest, he lost his contract and position with the New England Patriots, jerseys in stores and now another sponsor.
According to ESPN:
A representative with trading card and memorabilia company Panini confirmed to ESPN.com on Thursday morning that the company painstakingly removed Hernandez stickers from 500,000 of its sticker books, which were already produced but had yet to hit the shelves.
Although the stickers come in packs, the company places 10 stickers directly into the books to get a collector started. It was purely coincidence that Hernandez was one of the 10 players chosen.
The company has produced 1 million stickers of new Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow, who happened to play with Hernandez at the University of Florida, to fill the spot.