In his first trial, jurors deliberated for 36 hours over seven days before convicting him of murder. He plunged ahead, accepting Obama’s invitation to be the US ambassador to Ireland, a post he held between 2009 and 2012. Prosecutors said Hernandez opened fire on their car because he felt disrespected when one of the men bumped into him and spilled his drink at a Boston nightclub. “He shaped the league with instincts, wisdom and a soft-spoken velvet touch,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said.