Aaron Hernandez was a star player for the New England Patriots who was shockingly arrested and charged (and later convicted) of murder a few years ago. Hernandez committed suicide in prison in Spring 2017, shortly after being acquitted of a separate murder charge.

As is the custom now when a famous “good” person is exposed as something less than that, everyone who’d celebrated or commemorated Hernandez for his football exploits in any way quickly went to work, erasing his presence from anything and everything.

His old high school took down plaques, jerseys and trophies (Hernandez’s brother went to the school to pick the stuff up). The Patriots took down his photos and such. The University of Florida had a brick laid in cement, literally etched in stone, recognizing Hernandez’s being named an All-American and All-SEC player during his time at UF; UF had the brick cut out and removed, along with any Hernandez photos and other momentos in the wake of his murder charge.

I’ve always wondered why businesses and institutions feel such an urgency to do this when a person comes under public fire. Your first instincts as to why are probably the same that the decision makers at UF and the Patriots had.

But when I think deeper about why…