It can't get much stranger than this in the world of sports, many of us thought, as details of Tiger Woods' infidelity emerged a few years ago. Here was this unflappable, robotic, almost nerdy golfer at the top of his game ... and a story that changed the public perception of him dramatically.

Then, of course, it did get stranger. There never will be a story weirder than the Manti Te'o saga, many of us thought again, as the movie plot of his life unraveled into a singularity that revealed a girlfriend we believed was dead had never, in fact, even existed.

But the Te'o story reached its apex about six months ago, and already we have a new contender for things getting even stranger. This is far more sad than any girlfriend hoax. This involves real death — perhaps more than just one.

The idea that an NFL player would have off-field problems, even incidents involving violence, should not be shocking. That Aaron Hernandez — a tight end with the ubiquitous "character issues" coming out of college that caused him to slide to the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 draft — would be at the heart of an incident is not even surprising.

To hear, though, that Hernandez was charged with murder? That was a stunner Wednesday. But perhaps the real exclamation point has yet to be added. On Thursday, reports surfaced that Hernandez is now being investigated in relation to an unsolved double homicide last summer in Boston.

An SUV believed to be key in the two shooting deaths was recovered Thursday, CNN.com reported. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported similar news via Twitter, adding that Hernandez was renting the SUV at the time of the murders.

An NFL player charged with one murder and perhaps connected to two more? People already are tossing around the term "serial killer," and however premature that is they are attaching it to a very good player on one of the very best teams in the most popular sports league in the United States.

Just another sad reminder that it can always get stranger, and that it can always get worse. Maybe at a certain point, we will stop being surprised.

Michael Rand