What happened to the NFL star?

Ryan Murphy, the prolific television producer behind American Horror Story and its numerous spinoffs, returns with another of his infamous true crime dramas, following Aaron Hernandez, an NFL tight end who seemed headed for the Hall of Fame when his career was cut short by a murder conviction and a one-way ticket to a Massachusetts maximum-security prison.

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” stars Josh Rivera as Hernandez, Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tebow and other celebrities playing real-life athletes and people involved in the case. The 10-episode miniseries was created by Stuart Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. It premieres on FX on September 17.

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After playing at the University of Florida with quarterback Tim Tebow and coach Urban Meyer, Hernandez was drafted in the fourth round by the New England Patriots and coach Bill Belicheck. With star quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski, Hernandez excelled with the Patriots. Two years into his rookie contract, he signed a five-year, $40 million extension. That same year, he played with the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. He was 23 years old.

On June 26, 2013, Hernandez’s NFL career came to a complete halt when he was arrested at his home in Attleboro, Mass. He was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd and five additional weapons charges, including illegal possession of a firearm. Two hours later, Hernandez was fired from the Patriots.

At the time, Lloyd was in a relationship with Hernandez’s fiancée’s sister, Shayanna Jenkins.

“At about 2:30 a.m. (July 17), Odin Lloyd is seen driving away with Hernandez and his friends, Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace, in a rented silver Nissan Altima,” CNN reported in 2013.

That same day, Lloyd’s body was found by a jogger in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez’s home. He had five gunshot wounds to his back and side.

The story became even more complicated when the trial revealed a potential connection between Hernandez and another double homicide that had occurred in July 2012. That was based on a complaint filed by Alexander Bradley in Miami Federal Court. Bradley claimed that Hernandez shot him in the face after an argument over Bradley witnessing the fatal drive-by shootings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Those allegations were not admitted as evidence in Lloyd’s murder trial.

In April 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder in Lloyd’s death and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His trial for the double murders of Abreu and Furtado did not begin until March 2017. However, on April 14, 2017, he was acquitted of the double murder charges. Five days later, Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell in an apparent suicide.

Later scans of Hernandez’s brain show what his attorney, Jose Baez, described as a “severe case” of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A report from the Boston University CTE Center found that Hernandez had Stage 3 CTE, a disease classified in four stages. The damage included early degeneration of brain cells and large tears in the septum pellucidum. Symptoms of CTE include aggression, apathy, memory loss, lack of spatial awareness and executive dysfunction.

“American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez” will premiere on FX with two episodes on September 17.

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