With that in mind, Sheff also spoke during the press conference and called on the Patriots to step up and help settle the suit. He asked the team to pay Ward any money that could otherwise be owed to Hernandez.

“I want to issue a very friendly challenge to the New England Patriots—the best team in the NFL, the undisputed world champions of football,” he said. “We urge the New England Patriots to work with the [NFL] Players Association to voluntarily make these payments. This would be the best thing to do, it would be the right thing to do, and that would make the Patriots Ursula Ward’s champion.”