American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez episode 5, “The Man,” changes the titular athlete’s jersey number during his time with the New England Patriots, but rather than being a continuity error, the alteration holds meaning in the real world as boasting a symbolic interpretation within the show. Josh Rivera leads the American Sports Story season 1 cast as the late tight end. Although the bioseries has been poetically inaccurate with certain details about Hernandez’s life and playing career, the change of his jersey number from 85 to 81 isn’t a deviation from reality.

Hernandez is one of many real NFL figures in American Sports Story, as his time as a college football star and professional player overlapped with several other coaches and athletes. Many of them helped shape his story, but not always for the better. While his jersey number change with the Patriots wasn’t the result of anything nefarious, it does tie into another player’s real-life story. Additionally, Hernandez’s switch from 85 to 81 holds a deeper meaning in the fictionalized version of his life.

Aaron Hernandez Gave His Number To Chad Ochocinco Before The 2011 Season

Hernandez switched to 81 in his sophomore season in the NFL

Although NFL jersey numbers are primarily intended to delineate between position groups, they can also develop a lot of meaning for the players who wear them. Certain players commit to a number for their entire careers, even when they move teams. No other NFL player took his jersey number quite so seriously as wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, who legally changed his surname in 2008 to reflect the number he wore with the Cincinnati Bengals. When Johnson joined the Patriots in 2011, Hernandez immediately surrendered the 85 jersey to his new teammate out of respect.

Hernandez wore 81 during his time as a Florida Gator, so the number also held meaning for him. Interestingly, Johnson joining the Patriots in 2011 marked the beginning of Hernandez’s second season as a Patriot, with Rivera’s character playing his rookie year the season before. So, Hernandez’s jersey number change actually conceals a hidden time jump in American Sports Story episode 5, “The Man.”

American Sports Story Uses Hernandez’s Jersey Number Change Brilliantly

Hernandez’s personal struggles return with a vengeance after the switch

Knowing the real-world explanation for Hernandez changing his jersey number makes the whole scenario seem much more innocuous, as well as confirming it’s not a continuity error by the show’s production team. However, American Sports Story uses the number switch to represent the main character slipping back into his old ways. While his earlier days with the Patriots are portrayed as Hernandez putting his troubled past aside, his demons start to creep back into his life at around the same time as his jersey number reads 81.

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Hernandez’s behavior in American Sports Story starts to become problematic during his college career – when he also wore 81. Frustrated at hiding his sexual orientation, dealing with a gradually worsening head injury, and falling in with a bad crowd all contribute to the tight end’s descent into a very dark place. Being drafted by the Patriots and being assigned number 85 acts as a symbolic fresh start, but when his behavior begins to revert to that of his college years, American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez‘s resurgence of the number 81 from his Gators uniform highlights this downward spiral.

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

Seasons

1

Directors

Paris Barclay , Carl Franklin