American Sports Story attempted to accurately depict Aaron Hernandez‘s tumultuous life — but there have been some inaccuracies about both his personal and professional life.
The FX series, which debuted in September 2024, stars Josh Andrés Rivera as Hernandez and is based on the “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” podcast. American Sports Story chronicled Hernandez’s time with the University of Florida Gators and New England Patriots before legal issues off the football field caught up with him.
Hernandez was arrested in 2013 for the murder of Odin Lloyd and was convicted two years later. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and was subsequently charged for the double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Hernandez’s career in the NFL had come to an end by the time he was acquitted in 2017 and days later was found dead at age 27 in his prison cell. His death was ruled a suicide.
While Hernandez’s loved ones haven’t addressed how Ryan Murphy‘s American Sports Story represented his life, they have spoken out in the past. Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, previously slammed Tom Brady for telling “cruel” jokes about her late partner during The Greatest Roast Of All Time: Tom Brady.
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“It’s sad that I’m trying to raise my children in such a cruel world,” Jenkins told TMZ in May 2024 after Brady joked during the Netflix special that “the bar for a Patriots tight end was pretty low back then. Block. Catch. Don’t murder.”
Keep scrolling for some of the inaccuracies noticed in FX’s American Sports Story:
Cam Newton’s Departure From the Florida Gators
As a college freshman at the University of Florida, Hernandez crossed paths with Cam Newton, who initially played for the Florida Gators under head coach Urban Meyer from 2007 to 2008. Newton’s time at the college was cut short when he was arrested in 2008 on felony charges of burglary, larceny and obstruction of justice after being accused of stealing a laptop from a fellow student.
Newton was suspended from the Florida Gators but ultimately all charges were dropped after he completed a court-approved pre-trial diversion program. According to American Sports Story, Meyer dismissed Newton from the team after he was one of several players — including Hernandez — who ended up involved in various legal issues that year. Newton, however, transferred of his own accord three days before the Gators won the National Championship. Fox Sports reported in 2010 that Newton was at risk of expulsion from the University of Florida on grounds of academic dishonesty before he left.
Newton went on to play for the Auburn Tigers, which is where he won the Heisman Trophy and the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. He was later selected to play for the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots. He has not been part of the NFL since the Patriots chose not to re-sign him after the 2021 season.
Aaron’s Brother D.J. Hernandez Was Not Demoted From University of Connecticut
American Sports Story depicted D.J. Hernandez‘s attempts to avoid living in his younger brother‘s shadow. However, D.J. seemed to always be compared to Aaron as the NFL star found more and more success. Case in point, the show claimed D.J. was punished when Aaron chose the University of Florida as his college pick over University of Connecticut.
The official website for the University of Connecticut previously noted in a statement that D.J. “selflessly volunteered to move from quarterback to wide receiver during the spring” of 2007.
D.J. has continued to make headlines for his own legal issues following his brother’s death.
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Details About the Shooting in Boston
Aaron was indicted on murder charges in 2012 after de Abreu and Furtado were killed by gunshots fired into their vehicle. The trial took place five years later where Aaron claimed his former friend — and drug dealer — Alexander Bradley was the person who pulled the trigger.
The prosecution relied on Bradley’s testimony, who claimed Aaron was upset after de Abreu and Furtado spilled a drink on him in a bar. Bradley accused Aaron of getting his gun and circling the bar until they spotted de Abreu and Furtado. According to Bradley, Aaron fired his gun five times into the car. Aaron’s attorney, meanwhile, argued that Aaron happened to be in the vicinity of the murder but wasn’t at fault. Aaron was ultimately acquitted of the murders but found guilty of illegal possession of a handgun.
American Sports Story showed Aaron and Bradley heading home when a car with de Abreu and Furtado pulled up next to them. In the FX show’s dramatization, Aaron decided to pull a gun on de Abreu and Furtado before pulling the trigger on screen.
Aaron’s Uncle Was Never Accused of Sexual Abuse
D.J.’s 2018 book titled The Truth About Aaron: My Journey to Understand My Brother claimed an older boy in their neighborhood sexually abused Aaron when he was 6. Aaron allegedly disclosed the same information to his mother in letters written shortly before his death that the abuse continued for years after the incident D.J. mentioned in his book.
American Sports Story, however, heavily alluded that Aaron and D.J.’s uncle Robert Valentine sexually abused the younger Hernandez sibling despite his name never coming up in Aaron’s letters or D.J.’s book. Aaron’s family did not publicly address the fictional story line and Valentine died in a 2013 crash before the release of American Sports Story.
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Aaron Had Financial Instability During His Time as a Rookie
During the 2010 NFL draft, the New England Patriots selected Aaron as a tight end. Aaron wasn’t chosen by other teams because there reportedly were concerns that Aaron’s allegedly failed drug tests and legal issues while in college would be a liability for a professional football team.
Aaron was signed to a four-year contract of over $2 million that had a signing bonus of $200,000. The Patriots didn’t give Aaron the expected $500,000 signing bonus due to concerns about his behavior off the field and instead he got a contract that offered bonuses up to an additional $700,000 to make up for it.
American Sports Story offered a different perspective with the fictional Aaron complaining multiple times about a lack of funds due to his disappointing rookie deal.
The Existence (or Lack Thereof) of Chris Taylor
Aaron’s sexuality became a topic of conversation after his 2017 death with multiple people from his life claiming he told them he was gay. Aaron’s high school teammate Dennis SanSoucie claimed they were involved in a secret relationship, which was depicted on American Sports Story with Kalama Epstein playing SanSoucie.
The show also introduced a physical therapist named Chris Taylor (Jake Cannavale) who was involved with Aaron throughout the years after he joined the NFL. According to the show’s cast and crew, Chris is meant to be a fictional person who represents Aaron’s alleged relationship with men as a catch-all.
The New England Patriots signed a player named Chris Taylor in 2008 and he remained on the team until 2010. While he was briefly teammates with Aaron, there is no connection between the real-life Taylor and the character Cannavale brought to life on American Sports Story.
Aaron Probably Didn’t Attack His Mother’s Boyfriend
After Aaron’s father, Dennis Hernandez, died in 2006, his mother, Terri Valentine-Hernandez, started dating Jeff Cummings. The relationship caused Aaron to become estranged from his mother because Cummings was previously married to Aaron’s cousin, Tanya Singleton.
American Sports Story showed Aaron beating Cummings up for harming Terri. The police were called to Terri’s home in 2010 when Cummings cut her face during an argument. Cummings served a two-year sentence for the incident and Terri divorced him at the time.
There was no public record of Aaron having an altercation with Cummings, who was taken into police custody after the attack on Terri.
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The Back and Forth Between Aaron and Alexander ‘Sherrod’ Bradley
In 2013, Bradley was found by the police with a bullet wound in his eye. Bradley survived the shooting but wouldn’t name who was responsible for the attack. According to text messages later obtained by the authorities, Bradley and Aaron threatened each other for the next three months about the incident.
Bradley requested $5 million for his silence after claiming Aaron was responsible for his injury. Aaron’s agent responded with $1.5 million but Bradley countered with $2.5 million. Bradley filed a civil lawsuit for damages against Aaron in 2013, which was withdrawn four days later. Aaron’s legal team filed a postponement request in federal court amid the football player’s separate murder charges related to the Boston homicide.
Aaron reached a settlement with Bradley in 2016 and the terms were never disclosed publicly. Aaron’s attorney later said his client referred to Bradley getting shot as a drug deal gone wrong. The lawyer pointed to text messages sent by Bradley — and admitted into evidence — where Bradley admitted he didn’t remember who shot him.
American Sports Story got largely all of the details right except for the settlement. The show claimed Aaron’s agent, Brian Murphy, negotiated with Bradley for a payout of $2.5 million when Aaron was still in the NFL. But a settlement wasn’t reached until Aaron was already behind bars.
Aaron’s Over the Top Gun Collection
As Aaron’s concerns about his safety escalated on American Sports Story, he acquired a large selection of guns that he stashed away in an apartment he had in Massachusetts. This was likely a reference to actual text messages between Aaron and Bradley where the athlete threatened his former acquaintance with claims of automatic weapons and handguns. ESPN reported that Aaron’s employees found two guns but there were never any weapons that the police seized after his arrest.
The amount of protection Aaron acquired for himself was likely a fictional detail American Sports Story introduced on screen.
