# American Sports Story

American Sports Story is an American sports drama anthology series developed by Stu Zicherman, who also serves as an executive producer alongside Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy, Linda Pizutti Henry, and Ira Napoliello. The series serves as the fourth installment in the American Story media franchise, and is broadcast on the cable network FX.
The first season, titled American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, is focused on the rise and fall of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, and premiered on September 17, 2024.

## Cast
### Main

* Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez
* Jaylen Barron as Shayanna Jenkins
* Lindsay Mendez as Tanya Singleton
* Ean Castellanos as DJ Hernandez
* Tammy Blanchard as Terri Hernandez
* Vincent Laresca as Dennis Hernandez

### Recurring

* Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow
* Tony Yazbeck as Urban Meyer
* Jake Cannavale as Chris
* Kalama Epstein as Dennis Sansoucie
* Catfish Jean as Ernest "Bo" Wallace
* Thomas Sadoski as Brian Murphy
* Roland Buck III as Alexander “Sherrod” Bradley
* Norbert Leo Butz as Bill Belichick
* Kwadarrius Smith as Gameday Deion Branch
* Laith Wallschleger as Rob Gronkowski

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "If It's to Be" | Carl Franklin | Stuart Zicherman | September 17, 2024 (2024-09-17) | 0.273 |
| 2 | "Consequences, with Extreme Prejudice" | Carl Franklin | Ryan Farley | September 17, 2024 (2024-09-17) | N/A |
| 3 | "Pray the Gay Away" | Paris Barclay | Chelsey Lora | September 24, 2024 (2024-09-24) | 0.207 |
| 4 | "Birthday Money" | Paris Barclay | Ryan Farley & Chelsey Lora | October 1, 2024 (2024-10-01) | 0.140 |
| 5 | "The Man" | Maggie Kiley | Domonique Foxworth & Liz Tuccillo | October 8, 2024 (2024-10-08) | 0.184 |
| 6 | "Herald Street" | Maggie Kiley | Matthew Hodgson | October 15, 2024 (2024-10-15) | 0.158 |
| 7 | "Dirty Pain" | Steven Canals | Lee Edward Colston II | October 22, 2024 (2024-10-22) | 0.190 |
| 8 | "Odin" | Steven Canals | Hadi Nicholas Deeb | October 29, 2024 (2024-10-29) | 0.153 |
| 9 | "What's Left Behind" | Jennifer Lynch | Hadi Nicholas Deeb & Stacey McCormack | November 5, 2024 (2024-11-05) | 0.185 |
| 10 | "Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?" | Michael Uppendahl | Stuart Zicherman & Tracey Scott Wilson | November 12, 2024 (2024-11-12) | 0.160 |

## Production
### Development

On August 13, 2021, it was announced that FX had ordered a new spin-off limited series American Sports Story. The series, which is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. from The Boston Globe and Wondery, focuses on the rise and fall of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez. Specifically, the series explores the disparate strands of Hernandez's identity, his family, his career, his suicide and their legacy in sports and American culture.

### Casting

By January 2023, John Landgraf stated that the series was "heading toward production" as there was a "fairly complete set of scripts" from Stu Zicherman, although no premiere date was set. In November 2023, it was reported that Josh Andrés Rivera, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Lindsay Mendez, Tony Yazbeck, Jake Cannavale, and Catfish Jean had joined the cast.

### Filming

Principal photography began on April 3, 2023, in Jersey City, New Jersey. Filming was suspended in July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed in December. Filming continued further in March 2024 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

## Release

The first season premiered with its first two episodes on FX on September 17, 2024. After the two-episode premiere, the series was released one new episode weekly leading up to the finale in November. New episodes of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez were made available to stream on Hulu after the 10 PM FX premiere on Tuesdays. Internationally, the series was released on Disney+.

## Reception
### Streaming viewership

American Sports Story debuted at No. 1 on Hulu's "Top 15 Today"—a daily updated list of the platform's most-watched titles—on its first full day of release and remained on the list for ten consecutive days as of October 1, 2024, alongside other Ryan Murphy-produced series like Grotesquerie and Doctor Odyssey. It later ranked No. 3 on Hulu's "Top 15 Today" list on October 4, 2024. The show reclaimed the No. 1 spot on Hulu in November 2024, nearly two months after its premiere.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of American Sports Story has an approval rating of 70% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The website's critical consensus states, "American Sports Story dramatizes the tragic case of Aaron Hernandez with slick efficiency and some debatable insinuations about his motivations, with Josh Rivera's terrific performance giving the sad saga a compelling core." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

### Impact

American Sports Story garnered attention after a scene featuring Laith Wallschleger as Rob Gronkowski went viral on social media. This was notably observed on "NFL Twitter," where the clip was shared by NFL writer Dov Kleiman and others. The comedic exchange between Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez led to widespread sharing and commentary online. Gronkowski acknowledged that Wallschleger, who serves as his body double in various projects, effectively embodied his persona in a manner that aligned with the style of the series.