American Sports Story – History and stories behind

It was a great series. I have empathy for Aaron. I don’t agree with the lifestyle he lived (my opinion), however, his story was told beautifully. His actions now make sense. Sorry for the lives we’ve lost and affected but he had some serious demons and they were triggered by his fame and athleticism. He is troubled and that CTE is serious and very scary. I love football and watch it like most people in the world but at the end of the day these athletes are people too. More needs to be done to help them. I would recommend this series. I was upset but in my opinion his story from what I understand was portrayed remarkably in this series.

Why is Aaron’s story so compelling that it is retold in so many ways: Documentaries, books, series, and media articles? Because we want to change the outcome but we cannot.
Set aside the discomfort over the portrayal of his sexuality so you can understand there are significant lessons to learn from his life and, if you rewatch the series, try to imagine one of your family or friends traveling his path.

1) Natural talent does not mean a person is happy or satisfied using it. Football was forced on him as a complete lifestyle and he became a commodity, not a person.

2) People have different ways of coping with the damage caused by abuse in childhood. Violence is empowering when positive coping skills have not been modeled or taught.

3) Chronic marijuana use can replace pain with paranoia and it is an addictive drug for people prone to addiction. It’s not been the mellow herb of its original form for decades.

4) Rewarding violent behavior by allowing offenders to bypass consequences reinforces the behavior.

5) Adults have a responsibility to help young people develop their life skills not just use them and let them burn out like a shooting star.

6) Sexuality is a spectrum of variation and can be very confusing and challenging to navigate. How many suicides have ended the emotional suffering of individuals who could not live an authentic life?

7) By raising awareness through storytelling we might help someone who is struggling to accept help.

8) Two people can be siblings with nearly identical childhoods and still develop with completely different personalities. Don’t expect them to be the same.

9) Football serves many purposes, but above all, as portrayed in this series, it is a business. Owners need to invest as much in mental wellness as they do in physical development.

The writers and actors are trying to share a very uncomfortable and complex story. If you want to learn more, read the book Unnecessary Roughness…by Jose Baez who represented Aaron in his final days. The actors have a tough job, but I think they are demonstrating the emotional content well considering its depth and variety.

I’m not a devout football fan, but this is definitely a very entertaining series. I’ve read different opinions online and real sports fans. Say that this is a puff piece for Robert Kraft. They say that it is placing blame on Bill, the guy that helped him. I don’t know how accurate that is, but if that’s true it’s very unfortunate because this has actually made me feel so sorrow for his family. If CTE is really, what caused the vast majority of his behavior it’s a devastating reality. Focusing on the future of safety for athletes is the only thing good that could possibly come out of his story and his situation. What I don’t like is how often they imply his homosexuality throughout this series. From what I understand, there is absolutely no proof of several of the scenes depicting him as having gay tendencies. There is one scene where one of the trainers actually comes to his hotel room and kisses him, and they end up having sex from what I assume and there is absolutely no proof of this ever happening. I think that that is probably a prime example of the infiltration of LBGQT in the media. I understand that there are several people out there that live this lifestyle, but the percentage is far lower than the amount of imagery portrayed throughout entertainment and other sources of fictional media. There’s also an indication that his brother didn’t look out for him while he was being molested by his uncle as a small child. There’s no proof of that either. You can’t do that to someone’s character. If you’re making a documentary about someone’s life, even if it is from an acting standpoint, be factual. Be truthful. Although something added, may make the story interesting, it takes away from the reality of the situation. What if all of his violent behavior was a result of CTE? What if It was drug addiction? I gave this five stars because of the entertainment value alone. If I was rating it based on its factual evidence supporting the material I’d give it more of a 22 or three star.