American Sports Story questions whether those in Aaron Hernandez‘s personal and professional life contributed to his tragic decline — but the actor who plays Bill Belichick doesn’t think it is that simple.
“A couple of things I would say I know to be true is this whole story broke his heart. It broke Bill Belichick’s heart,” Norbert Leo Butz exclusively told Us Weekly about how the head coach of the New England Patriots reacted to Hernandez’s 2017 death. “It broke the heart of every player on that team and all Patriots fans.”
Butz, 27, pointed out that the events that led to Hernandez’s decline weren’t as black and white, adding, “It’s a painful story. But I will say that Belichick’s complicity in this tragedy was of … I don’t want to say ignorance.”
Hernandez, who is played by Josh Andrés Rivera on American Sports Story, started his career as a tight end with the University of Florida Gators before his stint with the New England Patriots from 2010 to 2013. Off the football field, Hernandez faced several legal issues before his death.
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After becoming an NFL star, Hernandez was arrested in 2013 for the murder of Odin Lloyd and was convicted two years later. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and was subsequently charged with the double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Hernandez was acquitted in 2017 and days later was found dead at age 27 in his prison cell. His death was ruled a suicide.
Multiple factors contributed to Hernandez’s tragic death — and not all of it involved being on the football field. American Sports Story, however, introduced Belichick, 72, in the fourth episode and showed Hernandez experiencing multiple head injuries after executing plays at the direction of the head coach.
“The problems that affected Aaron were systemic. They did not come from any one person. Bill Belichick has said over and over again — and I respect this about the man — that he had a single job and that was to win football games. That was literally the job title,” Butz continued. “I respect that he did not aspire to be a psychologist to his players or even a father figure or an educator or a babysitter or a diplomat. He was there to coach and to win football games.”
Hernandez was posthumously diagnosed with CTE a.k.a chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disorder believed to be caused by repeated head injuries. Some have questioned whether the condition may have affected his behavior.
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“As we look back on the tragedy 10 or 15 or 20 years later, we see some of the systemic problems. This idea that there were precautions to take that were not taken in terms of protecting kids’ brains. Or that mental health matters as much as physical fitness. These things are now getting some equity,” Butz continued. “I hope the takeaways are that we can still have this great American sport — this billion-dollar industry — and there can be progress in the sport.”
Butz’s costar Thomas Sadoski has said that he wants American Sports Story to be a wake-up call for the NFL. As for Butz, he would like to see athletes across all areas of sports be protected from long-lasting effects on their well-being.
“I can’t speak to what the specific policies would have to change. But I think — not just in football — we need to continue to put the human being first and then the sport second. That just has to be where organizations start from,” he told Us. “These athletes are not commodities, they’re not livestock and they’re not puppets. They’re human beings. So the human being needs to be protected and respected first and foremost. That includes mental health.”
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The way American Sports Story approached telling Hernandez’s story gave Butz hope.
“We have come a long way,” he said. “The fact that we now know CTE is real and we can now look at these brains and say, ‘This is irrefutable proof that there’s damage in these brains. And it’s completely tied to multiple concussions.’”
He continued, “I don’t know what that means. You can’t get around the fact that it is a full-contact sport. That’s what it is. That’s what’s thrilling about it. That’s what’s dangerous about it. It is that element of danger that makes millions and millions and millions and millions of people watch the sport. But those are human beings out there. So they have to come first. People first, sports second.”
American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez airs on FX Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
