NFL players and fans are continuing to react to the shocking apparent suicide of Aaron Hernandez roughly 12 hours after his body was found hanging inside of his prison cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, just past 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

One of those players is Mike Pouncey. The Miami Dolphins' center, who was close friends with Hernandez, took to his Instagram account today and shared this tribute about his fallen "brother," saying, "today my heart hurts as I got the worse [sic] news I could have imagined."

According to Boston.com, Pouncey was served with a grand-jury subpoena outside the Dolphins' locker room following a 2013 game to appear at Hernandez's first murder trial in which he was found guilty. The website additionally reported that prosecutors were trying to include a jail house phone call between Pouncey and Hernandez in the former NFL tight end's double-murder trial in which he was found not guilty last Thursday.

Pouncey's brother, Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, also took to his IG account to speak about Hernandez's loss.

The Pouncey brothers and Hernandez were college teammates at the University of Florida, before entering the NFL.

Despite being acquitted in his double-murder trial last week, Hernandez was serving life in prison without parole after being found guilty two years ago of the 2013 first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd.

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