According to American Sports Story , Aaron Hernandez dealt with two life-threatening vices over the course of his young life — two addictions that put his college football career in danger, that could have stopped him from ever playing for the NFL. Maybe if these two insatiable urges had been defeated, Aaron would’ve gone on to live a healthy, well-adjusted life free of shame and violence. The first is marijuana.
The other is sex with men. I’m kidding, kind of. This show isn’t in danger of going full Reefer Madness , and its depiction of Hernandez’s sexuality hasn’t crossed into homophobia.
But there’s still something overly simplistic about the way the show boils down Hernandez’s baggage to just a few key themes. “Pray the Gay Away” begins with the Florida Gators’ big 2009 BCS National Championship win against Oklahoma, a moment that solidifies Aaron’s celebrity on campus even as it exposes him to a lot of added scrutiny and pressure. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from indulging in behaviors that could get him in trouble.
He’s smoking weed before every practice and getting around mandatory drug testing with a “whizzinator” — a realistic fake dick strapped to one’s leg that shoots out pre-loaded, preheated clean urine. Urban Meyer is getting increasingly frustrated with him and other players acting up, to the point that the stress and increasingly long work hours are beginning to really affect his physical health. With time passing so qu.
