American Sports Story Sympathetically Tackles the Tragic Train Wreck of Aaron Hernandez’s Life

After three highly successful anthology series in the American Story franchise, created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the fourth installment, American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, couldn’t be more fitting and on-brand. It’s a logical step forward to open the franchise up to the kind of sports stories, controversial athletes, and media sensations that have captivated TV audiences for the better part of the last decade.

As the first subject, the late tight end of the Florida Gators and the New England Patriots, Aaron Hernandez ticks every box this type of show could ask for. He was a rich, famous, and closeted football star with a drug problem on a backdrop of a dysfunctional Hispanic family, who cracked under pressure and eventually wound up a convicted murderer. The press and the media chewed him up and spit him out. But Creator Stu Zicherman’s 10-episode series—based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.—finds a way to avoid exploitation and leads us into Hernandez’s head to show everything he went through from his nuanced perspective.

Full disclosure, before we go any further, I haven’t listened to the podcast or watched the 2020 Netflix documentary, so many of the real-life details regarding Hernandez’s career and personal matters were fresh to me. If you followed his investigation closely back then and consumed every piece of content about it, your mileage may vary.

Now, let’s start with the bad news: aside from the sinister-yet-intriguing opening scene that shows us the 2013 Miami shooting right off the bat, the first three episodes that delve into the rise of Hernandez (Josh Rivera) as an up-and-coming talent (before everything went awry) are as generic and ordinary as it gets. The writers struggle to find a way to breathe new life into this familiar trope that we have watched dozens of times, often done better in other programs. There are peeks into the abuse that Hernandez suffered at an early age (from his quick-tempered father), which crucially shaped his personality growing up. Yet, the insight this segment should give us as the foundation of a character study is lacking. Add to that a few questionable casting choices and bland direction, and the overall first impression of American Sports Story feels quite underwhelming.

But, even though it’s a rarity these days that a miniseries can significantly improve after a poor start, I’m glad to say that American Sports Story is one of those exceptions. Once the writers turn the focus on Hernandez’s inner battle with his sexuality, the root of his shame and frustration that stirred up a storm inside him, his actions rapidly get out of hand and bring about the type of repercussions that turn him into a fascinating train wreck—one we can emotionally invest in.

Being a closeted gay man 10-15 years ago while playing one of the most masculine sports in the world on the highest level, we instantly get why Aaron spirals into drugs and tries to numb the feelings he’s too ashamed to face or understand. Each poor decision he makes—every faked drug test, defensive lie, emotional manipulation, and immature aggression—is rooted in being terrified of being found out, which triggers a chain reaction of self-destructive and violent behavior. He tries to channel all that turmoil into playing football (his poor substitute for therapy), but the rough exterior made of tattoos, expensive belongings, and the façade of a conventional family slowly begins cracking under the weight of self-denial. He grows more anxious, gradually falling from one rock bottom to the next, continuously losing control of his own life, which lands him in situations he can’t always get out of using money and fame.

The deeper the character digs himself into a hole, the better Rivera gets at conveying the increasing paranoia and fear in Hernandez as he lashes out at his family and the people close to him. But the actor also finds balance by portraying Aaron’s softer side (the lover, husband, and father) along with the irrational and bragging NFL hotshot. Essentially, he understands that Hernandez was simply one of the thousand Latino kids with a talent who caught a break but couldn’t handle the pressure and stardom that came with it. At least, not with the inner demons he constantly fought against.

But regardless of how intimate and compassionate the series gets in its thorough examination of the subject, American Sports Story never excuses the horrific violence that Hernandez committed against innocent people. That not only means the lives he ended with his own hand, but the families deeply affected by his crimes, including his own. Jaylen Barron as Shayanna Jenkins delivers a vulnerable and heart-breaking performance as Hernandez’s wife, one of the few women who stuck by his side despite the humiliation and pain she was subjected to for years.

The series also successfully captures the aftermath of the NFL player’s downfall, highlighting what it means to be related to a public figure who was at first beloved by many and then openly despised by all. It’s a fine line to walk but, as opposed to the beginning of the show, the writers manage to do justice to all of the vital people involved in Hernandez’s circle. There’s also an attempt to target the NFL and force the organization to take responsibility for serious head injuries like CTEs (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy); in the autopsy following his death, it was revealed that Hernandez suffered from those significant head traumas. Though this is more of a side note than anything else in the big picture of his fate, it’s a crucial detail that couldn’t be left out.

Ultimately, the first season of American Sports Story delivers a painstaking examination of its subject matter by digging into all the various factors, life events, and past traumas that led to real-life tragedies. Though it’s far from flawless, the show strikes a balance at bringing justice to the victims and assigning blame to those responsible, all while emphasizing that even though Hernandez may have been deserving of the punishments for his actions, he wasn’t inherently evil. No, he was a troubled and damaged kid with a dream that came true but ultimately turned into his worst nightmare.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez premieres Tuesday, September 17th on FX, streaming next day on Hulu. 

Akos Peterbencze is an entertainment writer based in London. He covers film and TV regularly on Looper, and his work has also been published in Humungus, Slant Magazine, and Certified Forgotten. Akos is a Rustin Cohle aficionado and believes that the first season of True Detective is a masterpiece. You can find him talk about all-things pop culture on Twitter (@akospeterbencze) and Substack (@akospeterbencze).

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