FX is diving into the brutal and complex story of Aaron Hernandez with the first trailer for “American Sports Story.” The limited series will premiere on FX on Sept. 17 and will be available to stream on Hulu.
“You don’t know the kind of thoughts I had,” Josh Andrés Rivera as Hernandez says in this first trailer. The clip then flashes between scenes of Aaron loading a gun, running down the football field and smoking in a dark club. “It’s like a demon. What if God made me this way?”
The rest of the trailer snaps between these two extremes. One moment, it shows Aaron playing football with the crowd roaring in his ears. The next, he’s brandishing a gun or hanging out in a sleazy house. No matter what the trailer shows, the same ominous ticking can be heard in the background.
“Nobody’s questioning your athletic ability, Aaron,” Brian Murphy (Thomas Sadoski), Aaron’s agent, says in the trailer. “They’re questioning your character.”
“I just got to get back out on that field. Everything’s OK when I’m out there playing ball, Aaron says in response. Watch the full trailer below.
The first season of “American Sports Story” is based on the podcast from Wondery and Football Inc., titled ” Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” The 10-episode limited series for FX chronicles the rise and fall of NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez, from his struggles with his sexuality and complex relationship with his family to his many crimes and eventual suicide.
During the 2013 offseason, the real Hernandez was arrested for the murder of Odin Floyd, a semi-professional player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée. In 2015, he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the Floyd case and sentenced to life in prison with no parole. While on trial for Floyd, Hernandez was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Five days after he was acquitted of those crimes, Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell.
The first season of “American Sports Story” is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Stuart Zicherman, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson and Carl Franklin. Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy also serve as executive producers for Wondery alongside Linda Pizzuti Henry and Ira Napoliello of The Boston Globe. The series is produced by 20th Television.