Aaron Hernandez Was a Man of Many Secrets — Was a High School Boyfriend One of Them?

The story of Aaron Hernandez has been told in documentaries, investigative pieces, a podcast, and now a fictionalized series. American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez draws from reporting done for the Boston Globe as well as a Wondery podcast titled Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc. The FX series is a fictionalized version of Hernandez's rise and fall, and attempts to provide context and nuance to a story that has been painted in broad black and white strokes.

Stuart Zicherman is the man behind American Sports Story, and unlike many people who consume true crime, he believes Hernandez is more than a killer and was certainly not born a monster. He told NBC News that after listening to phone calls Hernandez made from prison, he came to understand the former NFL player was a chameleon out of necessity. One thing the series explores is his sexuality, which includes Hernandez's alleged high school boyfriend. Here's what we know.

The Boston Globe piece was published in October 2018, nearly two years after Hernandez took his own life in prison. In it, Dennis SanSoucie claims that he and Hernandez began fooling around in middle school. This would continue all through high school. "Me and him were very much into trying to hide what we were doing. We didn’t want people to know," he told the outlet.

Both were determined to keep their secret from getting out as something like that would be quite the scandal in their small town of Bristol, Conn. After high school, SanSoucie planned on joining the military while Hernandez dreamed of becoming a professional football player. Being gay didn't fit in with either of their future plans. Despite his fears, SanSoucie told his friends and family he was gay when he was in his 20s. In his opinion, Hernandez would have been proud of him.

Hernandez's brother Jonathan told the Boston Globe that when they were growing up, their father thought the football player had a "feminine way about him." Dennis Hernandez believed this was due to the way Hernandez stood or moved his hands. It didn't help that before he started playing football, Hernandez expressed an interest in becoming a cheerleader. "My cousins were cheerleaders and [they were] amazing," said Jonathan. Evidently, Dennis squashed that idea immediately.

Jonathan also shared that their father frequently used homophobic slurs around the house. "All the time," he said. "Standing. Talking. Acting. Looking. It was the furthest thing my father wanted you to even look like in our household. This was not acceptable to him." In the FX series, Zicherman aimed to find a way to show that Hernandez was undoubtedly struggling with his sexuality but was still deeply committed to the woman he wanted to marry, who was also the mother of his child.

"He had a really strong love for Shayanna, and he built a family with her," said Zicherman. "Maybe he felt more authentic in certain relationships with men, but I think he was figuring it out. I don’t think people know how many secrets he had, and to live with the pressure of that must’ve been unbearable while trying to put up a public persona."