The true story behind the TV show

FX's latest installment of Ryan Murphy's American History Franchise, American Sports History: Aaron Hernandez, is ready for television screens. The 10-episode limited series follows the true rise and fall of disgraced former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez.

The series, starring Josh Andrés Rivera as Hernandez, is based on The Boston Globe And Wonderful Podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.The podcast covered Hernandez's life and career, as well as his arrest, subsequent conviction for murder, and suicide in a maximum security prison in Massachusetts.

In June 2013, authorities discovered the body of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, about a mile from the then-football player's home. Just nine days later, Hernandez was arrested on murder charges in connection with Lloyd's death at his North Attleborough, Massachusetts, mansion and led out of the house in handcuffs.

Hernandez was released by the Patriots within hours. He pleaded not guilty but was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015.

In May 2014, nearly a year after his arrest for Lloyd's murder, Hernandez was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and other related charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in 2012.

According to the Associated Press, the two were shot in their car at a red light in Boston's South End neighborhood. The AP reported that prosecutors said Hernandez, who went on trial in February 2017, was angry because de Abreu accidentally bumped into him while dancing at a nightclub, spilling his drink. Hernandez's lawyers, however, said he was innocent. Hernandez was acquitted of murder charges against de Abreu and Furtado on April 14, 2017.

Just days after his acquittal in the case, on April 19, 2017, Hernandez was found hanging from a bedsheet in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison in Leominster, Massachusetts. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Boston Globe reported that Hernandez and another inmate smoked in the cell of former football player K2. The newspaper described the drug as “similar to marijuana, but more toxic: plants sprayed with chemicals that can cause hallucinations and are difficult to detect on drug tests.”

Hernandez, a former football player at the University of Florida, was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2010. The former tight end was reportedly someone to be warned about in the locker room. According to reports from The Boston GlobeFormer NFL player Wes Welker warned former Patriots receiver Brandon Lloyd about Hernandez's behavior.

“He looks at me with big eyes,” Lloyd recalled to the gladiator Podcast. “And he says, ‘I just want to warn you that [Hernandez] will talk about how he was bathed by his mother. He will show his genitals in front of you while you are sitting in your chair. He will talk about gay sex. Just try to ignore it. Even walk away.'”

The podcast of American Sports History: Aaron Hernandez touches on several aspects of Hernandez's life, including his childhood and the reported abuse he and his brother suffered during that childhood, along with Hernandez's reported struggle with his sexuality and how he exhibited symptoms of CTE.

The series traces the rise and fall of the former New England Patriots tight end, examining the various aspects of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide and their legacy in sports and American culture.

American sports history expands Murphy's series of five American History Anthology franchise that also includes 12 seasons of the flagship season American Horror Storythree seasons of American crime historythree seasons of American Horror Stories and the upcoming spinoff American love storywhich depicts the stormy relationship and wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. A possible fourth season of American crime historywith the title Studio54is under development.

American sports history will revisit a significant event involving a sports figure through the prism of today's world and tell the story from multiple perspectives. The script for this season is by Stu Zicherman (The Americans), who serves as executive producer alongside Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall, Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery, and The The Boston Globe Linda Pizutti Henry and Ira Napoliello.

American Sports History: Aaron Hernandez premieres with two episodes on FX on September 17 at 10 p.m. The show is also streaming on Hulu.