Editor’s Note: The following contains discussions of suicide that may be triggering.Ryan Murphy is no stranger to depicting fascinating stories that have been inspired by real-life events. His American Crime Story series covered the O.J. Simpson trial, the murder of Gianni Versace, and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in three respective seasons. For each of these iterations, Murphy develops intriguing scripts that dive into these events, and provides the viewer with a window into how things might have really played out behind-the-scenes. Each cast features impressive portrayals that often result in some Emmy hardware (such as winners like Courtney B. Vance as Johnny Cochran, Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark, Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden for its first season and Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan for its second). And now, Murphy has turned his sights to another NFL player whose career ended in disgrace (and murder).

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, which premieres on FX on September 17, examines the life of Hernandez, who at one time was a promising football phenomenon. He started off playing football as a small child and quickly fell in love with the game. After some challenges in his youth, he still made it to the University of Florida, where he started to make a name for himself as an extremely talented tight end. In 2010, he was drafted to the NFL to play with the New England Patriots. He made an appearance in Super Bowl XLVI, but still made some headlines for drug use and was rumored to have been involved in several violent incidents throughout those years. In August 2012, the Patriots signed Hernandez to a five-year, $39.58 million contract extension, with a $12.5 million signing bonus (the largest signing bonus ever received by an NFL tight end up until then). It seemed the talented Hernandez, who was only 23 years old at the time, had the world at his fingertips. That is, until it all came crashing down around him.

Aaron Hernandez Experienced a Dramatic Fall From Grace

On June 26, 2013, Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder and five additional gun charges. Within a few hours, the Patriots quickly released him from the team, and Hernandez’s promising career came to an abrupt end. The murder charges were related to the death of Hernandez’s friend, Odin Lloyd, whose body was found in a field not far from Hernandez’s home. At first, the motive seemed unclear, and Hernandez pleaded not guilty. The defense tried to point the finger at the other two men who were present at the time of the killing, but there was a lot of physical evidence that tied Hernandez to the crime. After seven days of deliberation, the jury came back with a guilty verdict, which resulted in a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. It seemed as though Hernandez’s time on the outside was officially over.

But there was another strange element to Hernandez’s story. While investigators were looking into Lloyd’s death, they discovered a key piece of evidence that potentially linked Hernandez to a 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston. Prosecutors said Hernandez felt disrespected when a man bumped into him and spilled a drink on him at a nightclub; while leaving the club, Hernandez allegedly shot and killed the man and his friend in their car. This evidence was not allowed into Hernandez’s first trial because it would have prejudiced the jury (but prosecutors wondered if Lloyd’s death had been related to him knowing something about the 2012 murders). In April 2017, Hernandez, while still serving his sentence, was acquitted of the double homicide. Although it was a bittersweet victory for Hernandez (he would still continue to serve his life sentence), the athlete’s story would include one last twist.

Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Sports Story’ Will Explore Aaron Hernandez’s Tragic Fate

Just a few days after learning that he had been acquitted during the second trial, Hernandez was found dead in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts. The 27-year-old had written “John 3:16” across his forehead before taking his own life. There were no prior signs that Hernandez was thinking about killing himself, so it came as a shock to those that worked at the facility (as well as to his family and friends). However, Hernandez did leave several suicide notes, including to his fiancée, their daughter, and his lawyer.

Several months later, a report was issued, stating that Hernandez’s brain had been studied posthumously. He had a severe form of the degenerative brain disease known as CTE (or chronic traumatic encephalopathy). It was especially noteworthy that his brain had atrophied in places, and that there were large perforations in the central membrane of the brain, as well as “deposits of tau protein in the front lobes of the brain in nerve cells around small blood vessels.” This is a classic example of how CTE shows up in brain scans, and it was apparent that Hernandez’s brain as a young man looked similar to players who would be well into their 60s. It is believed that CTE occurs because of frequent and severe impacts to the brain (which occur constantly while playing football).

A CTE diagnosis can only be confirmed after a person has died, but has been found in more than 100 football players. Hallmarks of CTE include aggressive behavior, mood swings, and lapses of judgment (all of which could possibly explain some of Hernandez’s descent into violence and crime). There have also been well-known players, such as Junior Seau, who also died by suicide after years of playing football. After these findings, Hernandez’s estate sued the NFL for $20 million on behalf of his then 6-year-old daughter, saying that the league was responsible for the brain injuries he experienced. In 2019, a federal judge threw out the case, saying that Hernandez technically missed the window to qualify for a $4 million settlement under a class action lawsuit because he had already stopped playing football by the time the lawsuit had gotten underway, and his daughter was not entitled to sue for the $20 million separately.

Hernandez’s story is a shocking one that included many rumors (especially regarding his sexuality) and disbelief at how far the once promising athlete had descended. One thing is for certain: The public still continues to be fascinated by this athlete and his downfall. In 2020, Netflix released a three-part docuseries called Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez that looked at the many sides to the football player, including his troubled childhood and relationship with his parents, the romantic entanglements he had, and his violent side. Even during The Roast of Tom Brady that aired on Netflix in May, Hernandez still came up in numerous jokes (as disturbing as that may be). Now that Murphy will be coming forward with his own interpretation of events, Hernandez will forever be memorialized as a representation of the dark side of American sports.

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez will premiere on FX on September 17 and will be available to stream on Hulu.

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