The debut season of FX’s American Sports Story centers on professional football player Aaron Hernandez, whose career with the New England Patriots was cut short after he was convicted of first-degree murder.

But the show begins well before that, tracing Hernandez’s football career to his Connecticut high school and the University of Florida. It was at the so-called “Swamp” that Hernandez played alongside Tim Tebow, portrayed in the series by Patrick Schwarzenegger.

“[He] recognized that Aaron was struggling and was trying to be this good force and utilize faith in his love of Jesus and churchgoing and the values that come as a Christian man to help Aaron,” Schwarzenegger told Entertainment Weekly of portraying the quarterback. “Unfortunately, [he] wasn’t able to fully succeed.”

Here’s everything to know about the pair’s time as teammates, as well as where Tim Tebow is today after the events of American Sports Story.

Their Gator Years

When Hernandez joined the college team in 2007, Tebow was already quarterback.

According to The Boston Globe and Wondery podcast, Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc., on which the FX series is based, Tebow once helped Hernandez prevent a bad situation from getting worse. The teammates were at a local restaurant when Hernandez allegedly punched a bar manager. Together, they reportedly called coach Urban Meyer for guidance.

Gladiator also notes that Tebow once urged Meyer not to kick Hernandez off the team. Even after the Patriots drafted Hernandez, Tebow reportedly spoke about him with Tom Brady, who said he was “trying to watch over” Hernandez and another former Gator.

“I appreciate that, man. They’re good guys,” Tebow told Brady, per the Globe.

Tim Tebow’s Career Today

After Hernandez was charged with murder in 2013, Tebow told ESPN the news was “heartbreaking and sad.”

While his erstwhile teammate’s career was cut short, Tebow played on, teaming up with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, and Jacksonville Jaguars throughout his professional football career. That last gig followed a six-year hiatus, during which he pursued a different sport, baseball.

Explaining his eclectic career on First Take (via SBNation.com), Tebow said that his “ultimate goal is to give it everything you have for something that’s on your heart and a dream and pursuing that. And if you get to live out your dream every single day, then the result doesn’t matter.”

Tebow and his wife, Demi-Leigh, married in 2020. Today, the Florida alum works as an author, speaker, and football analyst, in addition to running the Tim Tebow Foundation.