Aaron Hernandez’s life came to a tragic end earlier this week when the former star tight end of the New England Patriots was found hanged in his prison cell in what was ruled a suicide.

Hernandez was serving a life sentence without of parole after he was convicted in the 2013 killing of semipro football player and friend Odin Lloyd.

More details have been coming to light in the wake of Hernandez’s death, revealing just how troubled Hernandez may have been and how he possibly posed a threat to everyone around him, including reporters.

Just ask NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who was a Patriots beat writer back in 2010 when Hernandez was drafted by the Pats. Rapoport spoke about a strange interaction he had with Hernandez in the locker room, one that possibly put the reporter’s life at risk.

(From The MMQB via Sports Illustrated)

When we first exchanged numbers, he called me over and said, “Hey I just want you to know, you’re my guy. If you need anything let me know, I will help you out if I can. But I just want you to know, if you (expletive) me over, I’ll kill you.” I sort of laughed a little bit, and I said, “Don’t worry, I got you, I’ll take care of you.” It was me and this other reporter from CBS Sports, William Bendetson, and he was standing there and had listened and we kind of turned to each other and both laughed. And then the first text I got after it became clear that Hernandez was the suspect in the murder investigation was from William Bendetson, who was like, Hey remember that day in the locker room?

It’s hard to say whether Hernandez was being serious when he said that to Rapoport, but the pattern of behavior from the former tight end suggests there may have been some validity to his words.