Aaron Hernandez ‘American Sports Story’ series wants to show a different view of the disgraced NFLer

From a podcast to multiple documentaries, the rise and fall of the once revered NFL star Aaron Hernandez is certainly well documented. An FX limited series is latest to rehash the saga, attempting to go beyond the headlines and dig deeper into his story.

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez" stars Josh Andrés Rivera as the New England Patriots tight end. It details Hernandez's troubled childhood with an abusive father who demanded his son play football and project masculinity and toughness to the world. Secretly, Hernandez also struggled with his sexuality.

He played college ball at the University of Florida and was drafted by the Patriots. Over time, the series shows how Hernandez's behavior grew increasingly erratic. He was convicted of murder and died by suicide in 2017 while serving a life sentence. After his death, research showed Hernandez's brain showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

“What we tried to do with this show — is take a tabloid headline, take some story that you think you know about Aaron Hernandez ... and go behind it and see what it’s like to walk in the shoes of all the people who are part of this,” said Brad Simpson, one of the series’ executive producers, in an interview.

Hernandez's life, crimes and death have been detailed before in long-form writing, documentaries including Netflix's “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez," and the podcast “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.,” which is the basis for “American Sports Story.”

Rivera, known for his supporting roles in the recent “Hunger Games” prequel and 2021's “West Side Story,” said playing the former tight end was a “responsibility that you have to approach with a certain level of sensitivity.”

Once he started learning more about Hernandez’s life, diving into recordings of phone calls he made from prison and watching clips from his interviews, Rivera said he began to see the layered intricacy of Hernandez’s life. And he only became more eager to play him.

“To a lot of people, he was very charming and very charismatic and easy to get along with. There were not a small amount of people who felt that way, so that was interesting because you have to dissect the ‘why,’” Rivera said. “There’s clearly a magnetism there, disguising an inner life that’s very complex.”

Rivera said he enjoyed the challenge of that character work, calling Hernandez “a chameleon.”

“There was variations on the amount of tenderness and even the frankness, or the amount of swagger he would use from person to person, so I tried to incorporate that to a core essence,” he said.

Transforming into Hernandez was also a physical commitment for Rivera, who described getting into NFL shape as “meathead summer,” where he increased his food intake and worked with trainers to build muscle. The hardest part, though, of the transformation for Rivera, was getting inked up.

His mobility was often limited when filming to preserve the tattoos, which he said he initially found frustrating, but ultimately, the “oppressive feeling” of not being able to move freely was something he channeled into his character’s frustration.

Rivera stars alongside Jaylen Barron as Hernandez’s high school sweetheart and later fiancé, Shayanna Jenkins, Lindsay Mendez as his cousin, Ean Castellanos as his brother and Tammy Blanchard as his mother. Patrick Schwarzenegger plays Hernandez’s college teammate Tim Tebow, Tony Yazbeck plays former Florida coach Urban Meyer and Norbert Leo Butz plays former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

With the first sports-focused season of the “American Story” franchise, producers said they are interested in dissecting the “American religion of football.” They also hope viewers question the preconceptions they had about people involved in stories that captured the nation, like that of Hernandez.

“We can use this story to challenge certain perspectives or to just add a little bit of nuance for people who maybe don’t know much about it or have a fixed mindset about it,” Rivera said. “It’s an interesting opportunity.”

FILE - Josh Rivera poses for a portrait to promote the FX television series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez" during the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 17, 2024. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

This image released by FX shows Lindsay Mendez as Tanya Singleton, left, and Josh Rivera as Aaron Hernandez in a scene from the FX series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez." (FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Josh Rivera as Aaron Hernandez in a scene from the FX series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez." (FX via AP)

This image released by FX shows Josh Rivera as Aaron Hernandez in a scene from the FX series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez." (FX via AP)

FILE - Norbert Leo Butz, from left, Josh Rivera, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Jaylen Barron pose for a portrait to promote the FX television series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez" during the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 17, 2024. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Josh Rivera poses for a portrait to promote the FX television series "American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez" during the Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., on July 17, 2024. (Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Countries around the world already are feeling the impact of the Trump administration's decision to eliminate more than 90% of foreign aid contracts and cut some $60 billion in funding. Hours after the announcement earlier this week, programs were shuttered, leaving millions of people without access to life-saving care.

Some 10,000 contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development were terminated on Wednesday, in letters sent to nongovernmental organizations across the globe.

The letters said that the programs were being defunded “for convenience and the interests of the U.S. government,” according to a person with knowledge of the content who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

Many of the programs are in fragile countries that are highly reliant on U.S. aid to support health systems, nutrition programs and stave off starvation.

1: In Congo, aid group Action Against Hunger will stop treating tens of thousands of malnourished children from May, which the charity said will put the children in “mortal danger.”

2: In Ethiopia, food assistance stopped for more than 1 million people, according to the Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission. The Ministry of Health was also forced to terminate the contract of 5,000 workers across the country focused on HIV and malaria prevention, vaccinations and helping vulnerable women deal with the trauma of war.

3: In Senegal, the biggest malaria project closed. It distributed bed nets and medication to tens of thousands of people, according to a USAID worker who was not authorized to speak to the media. Maternal and child health and nutrition services also closed. They provided lifesaving care to tens of thousands of pregnant women and treatment that would have prevented and treated acute malnutrition.

4: In South Sudan, the International Rescue Committee closed a project providing access to quality health care and nutrition services to more than 115,000 people.

5: A program shuttered by the Norwegian Refugee Council in Colombia left 50,000 people without lifesaving support including in the northeast, where growing violence has precipitated a once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis. It included food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region.

6: In war-torn Sudan, 90 communal kitchens closed in the capital, Khartoum, leaving more than half a million people without consistent access to food, according to the International Rescue Committee.

7: In Bangladesh, 600,000 women and children will lose access to critical maternal health care, protection from violence, reproductive health services and other lifesaving care, according the United Nations Population Fund.

8. In Mali, critical aid, such as access to water, food and health services was cut for more than 270,000 people, according to an aid group that did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

9. More than 400,000 people in northern Burkina Faso lost access to services such as water. Services for gender-based violence and child protection for thousands are also no longer available, according to an aid group that did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

10. In Somalia, 50 health centers servicing more than 19,000 people a month closed because health workers are not being paid, according to Alright, a U.S aid group.

11. In Ukraine, cash-based humanitarian programs that reached 1 million people last year were suspended, according to the spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general.

12. In Afghanistan, hundreds of mobile health teams and other services were suspended, affecting 9 million people, according to the U.N. spokesperson.

13. In Syria, aid programs for some 2.5 million people in the country's northeast stopped providing services, according to the U.N. secretary-general. Also in the north, a dozen health clinics, including the main referral hospital for the area, have shut down, said Doctors Without Borders.

14. In Kenya, more than 600,000 people living in areas plagued by drought and persistent acute malnutrition will lose access to lifesaving food and nutrition support, according to Mercy Corps.

15. In Haiti, 13,000 people have lost access to nutritional support, according to Action Against Hunger.

16. In Thailand, hospitals helping some 100,000 refugees from Myanmar have shuttered, according to aid group Border Consortium.

17. In Nigeria, 25,000 extremely malnourished children will stop receiving food assistance by April, according to the International Rescue Committee.

18. In the Philippines, a program to improve access to disaster warning systems for disabled people was stopped, according to Humanity & Inclusion.

19. In Vietnam, a program assisting disabled people through training caregivers and providing at home medical care stopped, according to Humanity & Inclusion.

20. In Yemen, 220,000 displaced people will lose access to critical maternal health care, protection from violence, rape treatment and other lifesaving care, according the United Nations Population Fund.

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Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet reported in Paris, France, Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Turkey, Evelyn Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, Thalia Beaty in New York and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Lane Pollack, center, of Rockville, Md., a senior learning advisor at USAID for 14 years, is consoled by a co-worker after having 15 minutes to clear out her belongings from the USAID headquarters, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)