The Real-Life Murder Behind ‘American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez’: What Happened to the NFL Star?

Ryan Murphy, the prolific TV producer behind “American Horror Story” and its many spinoffs, is back with another of his infamous, real-life murder dramas. This storyline follows Aaron Hernandez, the NFL tight end who appeared to be on a straight path to the Hall of Fame when his career was cut short by a murder conviction and a one-way ticket to a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts. 

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” stars Josh Rivera as Hernandez, Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tebow and more celebrities playing the real-life athletes and people involved with the case. The 10-episode miniseries was created by Stuart Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. It premieres on FX on Sept. 17.

After playing at the University of Florida with quarterback Tim Tebow and coach Urban Meyer, Hernandez was a fourth-round draft pick by the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belicheck. With star quarterback Tom Brady and fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski, Hernandez excelled on the Patriots. Two years into his rookie contract, he signed a five-year extension valued at $40 million. That same year, he played with the Patriots at the Super Bowl XLVI. He was 23 years old.  

On June 26, 2013, Hernandez’s NFL career came to a complete halt when he was arrested in his Attleboro, Mass., home. He was charged with the first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd and five additional weapon charges, including illegal possession of a firearm. Two hours later, Hernandez was dropped by the Patriots.  

At the time, Lloyd was in a relationship with the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins.

“Odin Lloyd is seen at around 2:30 am [July 17] leaving with Hernandez and Hernandez’s friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, in a rented silver Nissan Altima,” CNN reported in 2013.

Later that same day, Lloyd’s body was found by a jogger at an industrial park, one mile from Hernandez’s house, with five gunshot wounds to his back and side. 

The story became even more intricate when the trial raised potential connections between Hernandez and another double homicide that occurred in July 2012. This was tied to a complaint filed by Alexander Bradley from the Miami Federal Court. Bradley claimed that Hernandez shot him in the face after an altercation related to Bradley being a witness to the fatal drive-by shootings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. These charges were not admitted as evidence in the Lloyd murder trial.  

In April 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Lloyd and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His trial for the double murder of Abreu and Furtado did not begin until March 2017. However, on April 14, 2017, he was acquitted of the double homicide charges. Five days later, Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell in what was classified as a suicide.  

Subsequent studies of Hernandez’s brain show what his attorney Jose Baez described as a “severe case” of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The report by the Boston University CTE Center found that Hernandez had stage 3 CTE; the disease is categorized in four degrees. The damage consisted of early brain cell degeneration and large tears to his septum pellucidum. The symptoms of CTE are characterized as aggression, apathy, memory loss, lack of spatial awareness and executive dysfunction.  

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” premieres on FX with two episodes Sept. 17.