FX’s American Sports Story is expected to focus on a brand new real-life protagonist in its second season after Aaron Hernandez. From the first two episodes of American Sports Story, the life and NFL career of Aaron Hernandez were headed toward a tragic and frightening endpoint that resulted in the former New England Patriot and star tight end receiving a lifetime prison sentence for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Starting with his emergence as an offensive weapon on Urban Meyer’s legendary yet controversial Florida Gators team and receiving the coveted John Mackey Award, American Sports Story episode 10 depicts Hernandez behind bars in federal prison.

American Sports Story episode 10 “Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?” chronicles Hernandez’s second murder trial and death by suicide in 2017. Episode 9 placed Hernandez’s ex-fiancee Shayanna Jenkins in the hot seat as she chooses to defend Hernandez through his arrest and murder conviction. The series also depicts Hernandez’s celebrity attorney Jose Baez and his defense through the alleged double homicide that occurred in 2012 in Boston. By the end of the American Sports Story finale, Hernandez takes his own life in his prison cell just days after being acquitted of two additional murder charges.

Created by Stuart Zicherman (The Americans), American Sports Story spanned 10 episodes with new weekly episodes released every Tuesday from September 17 through November 12, 2024. The series is set up as an anthology similar to American Horror Story, with each season chronicling a different real-life narrative from the world of professional sports. Although Hernandez remains one of the most fascinating and tragic athletes of all time with a multifaceted narrative, the series reached a sense of conclusion by the end of American Sports Story season 1. Several promising subjects with scandalous or tragic true stories would be great for American Sports Story season 2.

10 Kobe Bryant

5-time NBA Champion

The late NBA star Kobe Bryant would make a fantastic subject for American Sports Story season 2. Bryant was known for his “Mamba Mentality”, a tried and tested frame of mind that helped him become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant’s tragic death in a 2020 helicopter crash with one of his daughters, Gianna, marked a devastating end to the impact he had on the game of basketball and its evolution, particularly with female athletes.

Despite Kobe’s legacy, he was initially seen as an odd character in the Lakers locker room, usually keeping to himself and dedicating countless hours to improving his game and being the best. The series would chronicle his steadfast approach to becoming a 5-time NBA Champion and the various sacrifices and obstacles he faced to become an all-time legend.

9 Brittney Griner

WNBA Player

WNBA star and 3-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner underwent one of the most bizarre experiences of any notable professional athlete in recent memory. In 2021, Griner was arrested and held prisoner in Russia for 10 months for bringing cannabis vape cartridges into the country. She was finally released in 2022 after the Biden administration orchestrated a deal for her release in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who had been imprisoned in the United States since November 2011.

Griner recently published her perspective of the truly stranger-than-fiction story in her book Coming Home written with Michelle Burford. While the matter lingered on international headlines for nearly a year, the story has a lot of potential through a dramatized format such as American Sports Story to touch on themes of misogyny, race, and shady politics.

8 Colin Kaepernick

NFL Quarterback

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is another great candidate for American Sports Story season 2, especially if the series wants to make additional points against the NFL. Kaepernick famously took a knee during the National Anthem at the beginning of a 2016 NFL game in protest of police brutality and racial inequality. His gesture sparked outrage among the public on both sides of the coin, with some supporting his righteous stance while others disagreeing with his choice to bring real issues into a beloved American pastime. He continued to kneel during the National Anthems at the start of games for the rest of the year.

After six seasons in the NFL, no team owner would sign Kaepernick, ending his career far too soon. Kaepernick sued the NFL and alleged that team owners colluded to freeze him out of the league for his political beliefs. Kaepernick was the subject of Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series Colin in Black & White but American Sports Story could go even deeper into the story with its 10-episode format.

7 Tiger Woods

Best Golfer of All-Time

Tiger Woods has one of the greatest success stories in all of sports, becoming not only the greatest black golfer in a predominantly white man’s game, but the best golfer who has ever lived. Woods’ rise-and-fall story has been chronicled in the 2-part HBO documentary Tiger and features a sharp focus on the effect Tiger’s father, Earl Woods, had on him throughout his childhood, just like Hernandez and his father.

Woods’ picture-perfect image was ruined in 2009 after it was revealed he had multiple infidelities with women despite being married and having children with his wife, Elin Nordegren. Woods had a suspicious one-car accident just two days after the allegations first surfaced. American Sports Story could narrow in on this tumultuous period in Woods’ life and connect them to two other vehicular incidents, a 2017 DUI and another single-car collision in 2021. Woods continues to golf professionally but is far from his prime.

6 Dennis Rodman

5-time NBA Champion

Dennis Rodman is one of the most controversial athletes of any sport and would make a fascinating subject for American Sports Story season 2. Netflix’s celebrated docuseries The Last Dance featured several of Rodman’s most outrageous stories and antics and personal interviews with the man himself. American Sports Story could go further into not only what Rodman is famous for both on and off the court but also how he became the person he is. A true outlier and rarity in the NBA, Rodman is full of personality and unpredictability, which makes him naturally compelling. If the creators can find the right casting choice, American Sports Story: Dennis Rodman could be a hit.

5 Pat Tillman

NFL Player & Army Soldier

Pat Tillman has one of the most tragic stories in all of sports. Tillman played for the Arizona Cardinals from 1998 until 2002 when he decided to leave his professional football career behind to enlist in the United States Army following the 2001 September 11th attacks. An inspirational story about a true hero took a devastating turn when it was reported that Tillman had been killed in action in Afghanistan as a result of friendly fire. The 2010 documentary The Tillman Story recounts this tale but the story has not garnered much representation in the modern era of entertainment. If American Sports Story wanted to go in a completely different direction but still start with the NFL, Tillman would be an excellent subject.

4 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NASCAR Driver

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had one of the most interesting experiences in professional sports being part of one of the few father-son duos to ever exist at the same time in the same sport. Comparable to LeBron James playing with his son Bronny at the start of the 2024 NBA season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got to race against his father as part of NASCAR. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died during a NASCAR race after driving into a wall and fracturing his skull. Although NASCAR isn’t exactly the most popular sport, recent NASCAR-centric films such as Logan Lucky have proven that the sport can provide an interesting backdrop for compelling stories. Earnhardt Jr. finished second in the race that took his father’s life.

3 Barry Bonds

All-Time MLB Home Run Leader

Barry Bonds remains one of the most controversial figures in MLB history despite being the all-time MLB home run hitter. Bonds was revealed to have taken performance-enhancing drugs during his history-making seasons, which caused a national outcry over the legitimacy of his chase to become the all-time home run leader in 2007. To this day, Bonds has not been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for this reason. However, his home-run record of 762 is still honored. He is one of several heavy hitters who were caught using steroids, including Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, during the early 2000s. The scandal is documented in the Netflix series Untold: Hall of Shame but would be fascinating through American Sports Story’s serialized format.

2 Lance Armstrong

Disgraced Cyclist

Another one of the greatest sports cheaters of all time is Lance Armstrong, whose Livestrong brand became an international sensation after he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer, was stripped of all of his titles after it was discovered that he had been using banned performance-enhancing drugs. His fall from grace is certainly one of the most compelling and largest out of all sports figures. Once an emblem of inspiration, Armstrong was reduced to a liar and cheater. The Livestrong Foundation raised more than $500 million and Armstrong’s net worth is estimated to be $50 million. As far as deceit in sports goes, it doesn’t get much bigger than Lance Armstrong.

1 Micheal Phelps

Greatest Olympic Athlete of All-Time

Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time and a beloved figure in the United States. However, his story wasn’t always crystal clear, as Phelps sparked controversy when he was revealed to be using cannabis during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While hardly an issue by today’s standards, Phelps received some fierce public backlash from supporters who relied on him to be a role model for children. Phelps is also an advocate for mental health treatment and has been open about his experiences with depression after the Olympics ended. While not necessarily scandalous, an American Sports Story season 2 that focused on Michael Phelps could give a louder voice to the pressures of being an inspiration to millions and having the weight of an entire country on your back.

American Sports Story is a TV show from Stu Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. The series stars Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow. The sports anthology series serves as the fourth installment in Murphy’s “American Story” franchise.

Cast

Josh Andrés Rivera , Patrick Schwarzenegger

Character(s)

Shaneah Jenkins , Shayanna Jenkins , Aaron Hernandez , Tanya Singleton , Terri Hernandez , ‘Chris’ , Dennis Hernandez , Urban Meyer , Tim Tebow , Carlos ‘Charlie Boy’ Ortiz , Alexander Sherrod , Ernest ‘Bo’ Wallace , Steve Addazio , Dennis Sansoucie , Jeff Cummings , Sports Reporter , Mr. Marzigalli , Coach Morgan , Uncle Bobby , DJ Hernandez (Age 4) , Emcee , Basketball Player , Trainer , Principal Seligman , Pastor

Release Date

September 17, 2024

Seasons

1

Writers

Ryan Farley , Liz Tuccillo , Tracey Scott Wilson

Directors

Paris Barclay , Carl Franklin

Producers

Brad Simpson , Scott Robertson , Nellie Reed , Lee Edward Colston , Todd Nenninger , Tanase Popa , Hernan Lopez , Eric Kovtun , Hadi Nicholas Deeb , Gail Barringer , Ira Napoliello , Matthew Hodgson , Carl Franklin , Sara Stelwagen , Nina Jacobson , Marshall Lewy , David Woods , Alexis Martin Woodall , Tyson Bidner , Stuart Zicherman , Ryan Murphy , Monica Levinson , Lou Eyrich

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