The Athletics had to set the record straight this week after an unfortunate assumption made the rounds online.
With the new NFL season set to kick off in a matter of days, the Athletics decided to highlight some of the jerseys that their players were wearing ahead of the team’s road trip to St. Louis. One such jersey in particular drew some negative attention online — Athletics reliever Sean Newcomb sporting a No. 81 New England Patriots jersey.
It's football szn pic.twitter.com/k1two9UWW8
— Athletics (@Athletics) September 1, 2025
Social media users quickly assumed that Newcomb was wearing an Aaron Hernandez jersey there. That led to a clarification post from the Athletics the next day.
They posted another photo of Newcomb and zoomed in on the front label on Newcomb’s jersey. The label made clear that Newcomb was actually wearing a Randy Moss jersey and not an Aaron Hernandez jersey.
https://t.co/n7CdzOizbX pic.twitter.com/8Vg5FAYOik
— Athletics (@Athletics) September 1, 2025
Hernandez, who played for the Patriots from 2010-12, is obviously an infamous figure. He was convicted for first-degree murder in the 2013 shooting death of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd and later committed suicide in jail in 2017.
While Hernandez did wear No. 81 for New England, he was preceded by Moss, who wore No. 81 during his stint with the Patriots from 2007-10. Moss is the player whom Newcomb was repping instead, and that is definitely not a bad pick given that Moss is one of the greatest wide receivers ever and is still making the headlines these days for some interesting reasons.
