The University of Florida will not recall its 2014 sports calendar, which features a spread of Aaron Hernandez for the month of July, explaining that the calendar was approved before the former football star was charged in the murder of three men.
UF spokesman Daniel Apple said Tuesday that officials approved the calendar last spring, sometime before Hernandez was arrested on June 26 in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, The Associated Press reported.
A photo of the calendar went viral on Twitter Tuesday morning, showing Hernandez featured for the month of July. The photo showed him in his Gators gear running with a football, Deadspin reported.
It included his info: “Height 6’1” – Weight 245 lbs. – Hometown: Bristol, CT.”
The football team’s official Twitter account responded to criticism on Monday.
“Approval process for those things is over a year out, so that would have been approved in spring of 2013,” the account explained. “And it’s not from our marketing department, would be a licensed product not something we distributed.”
One Twitter user replied that the situation was “flat-out embarrassing.”
“Agreed it’s not ideal situation,” the account responded. “Thousands of these projects come through for approval months/years in advance.”
Mr. Apple said the school advised the calendar’s maker that Florida no longer approves of the product, but that those already printed will not be recalled, AP reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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