All we know about any "stars" in the sports and entertainment world is what they let us know and, to some degree, what we want to see in them.
The richer and more famous of these folks have expensive media and image consultants to help them brand themselves and increase their value for endorsements.
For our part, we usually see what we want to see.
In most cases, there is an unspoken contract between the public and the star, to the effect that "You keep your private life out of the news and we won't care what you do in your free time. Just play your role on stage or the big screen or TV or the sports field and keep the rest to yourself."
Then, along comes a guy like Hernandez or Vick or any of a cadre of others, who makes us wonder, "Who exactly are these guys anyway?"
I continue to assume that most of them are decent, ordinary human beings...but I no longer invest myself emotionally in any of them...and I teach my kids to do the same.
The only exception to that is when I know someone who actually knows the individual and has had regular, personal or professional interactions with that person over a period of time (i.e., didn't just meet them at a bar or restaurant or in an airport), but that is rare.
Otherwise, I now think of NFL players as sports and media entertainers, whose personal lives are and should remain appropriately private.