Belle Glade, Florida, 2013. Erotic dancers writhe in the dim red light of nightclub. Aaron Hernandez thinks he spots cops at the bar and exits. As they drive away, a friend reminds him: “I know all your secrets.” In a remote, rainy place, Hernandez pulls out a gun, shoots the friend and leaves him for dead.
Later, at an awards ceremony, Hernandez receives a call. “You should have made sure I was dead,” says the voice on the line. “I’m alive. I’m alive and I’m coming for your ass.”
These are the opening scenes of American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez, a TV drama series about a young man’s fall from the zenith of professional American football with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to the nadir of a murder conviction and prison sentence.