This article mentions suicide.
The death of Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau is mentioned inAmerican Sports Storyepisode 6. AlthoughAaron Hernandez, portrayed by Josh Rivera, is the main character in FX’sAmerican Sports Story, Hernandez and Seau never played on the same NFL team but share one key and tragic link. As depicted inAmerican Sports Storyepisode 6,Seau died by suicide after playing in the NFL and dedicating his life to professional football.American Sports Storyincludes various scenes ofHernandez enduring serious head injuriesthat were mostly left untreated and contributed to his postmortem stage 3 CTE diagnosis.
Seau was a celebrated NFL linebacker who played for three separate organizations throughout his nearly 20-year career. Thethen-San Diego Chargers drafted him as the 5th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft after he was an All-American standoutat the University of California. Seau played 13 seasons with the Chargers before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2003 and later signed with the New England Patriots in 2006 before officially retiring in 2010. Since the Patriots drafted Hernandez in the 2010 NFL Draft, he and Seau never had the opportunity to cross paths as teammates.
Junior Seau Died By Suicide 3 Years After Retiring From The NFL
Seau was found with a gunshot wound in his chest
Seau was named the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1994 when he was 25, the same age Hernandez was when he received a lifetime prison sentence forthe murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell in 2017 at the age of 27. Seau also died by suicide on July 14, 2025 at the age of 43.Seau was found in his home with a gunshot wound to his chest in Oceanside, California. Although a suicide note was not discovered, authorities declared the incident a suicide. The lyrics of the country song “Who I Ain’t” by Matt Kennon were found written on a piece of paper in Seau’s kitchen.
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A scene of Junior Seau’s headlining death by suicide is depicted inAmerican Sports Storydue to the link between his and Hernandez’s postmortem diagnosis of CTE. In the series, Hernandez briefly takes note of the news in the New England Patriots locker room as Seau’s former teammates are stunned. Hernandez later returns to his house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts following thealleged shooting of two men outside a Boston nightclubwhere his finacée Shayanna Jenkins is also shocked by the news of Seau’s death, watching a report on television.Hernandez, preoccupied with the alleged events of the night before, has zero emotional responseto Seau’s death in the series.
Junior Seau Was Diagnosed With CTE Despite Having No Reported History With Concussions
American Sports Story uses Seau’s death to foreshadow Hernandez’s similar fate
Junior Seau was never diagnosed with a concussion during his 20 seasons in the NFL and never missed a game due to concussion-like symptoms. It wasn’t until after his family donated his brain tissue that Seau was officially diagnosed with CTE by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in 2013. This highlights the tragic reality of NFL athletes who sufferundetected or potentially neglected head traumas and injuries without official concussion diagnoses. It also speaks to the combative incentive that NFL players have to hurt opposing players and the unspoken expectation in the NFL that athletes must play through their injuries.
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Seau summed up the combative nature of the NFL himself, saying “To strike your will on another player in hopes that the player quits on you and allows you to do what you need to do at your pace – that’s the name of the game, to have your guy surrender. And once he surrenders, you don’t stomp on him; you go on to the next guy” (viaESPN).
This sentiment is echoed inAmerican Sports Storyas Hernandez plays through a high ankle sprain and tells a trainer to pop his dislocated shoulder back in to keep playing. While there are other factors at play in Seau’s case, includingan arrest for domestic violence, severe gambling debt, and a near-fatal car crash in 2010,American Sports Storyuses Seau’s death by suicide to foreshadow Hernandez’s similar fate.
Junior Seau’s Family Sued The NFL Over His Brain Injuries
They reached a confidential settlement with the NFL in 2018
Following the release of Seau’s CTE diagnosis in January 2013, the family of Junior Seau filed a lawsuit against the NFL for the unacknowledged brain injuries Seau suffered throughout his career. The wrongful death lawsuit wasn’t settled until 2018 afterSeau’s family opted out of a $675 million concussion settlement the NFL offered to 20,000 retired players, which paid athletes diagnosed with CTE up to $5 million (viaNPR). Ultimately, Seau’s family dismissed their lawsuit after they reached a confidential settlement with the NFL. As depicted inAmerican Sports Story, Seau and Hernandez are only two of the hundreds of NFL players diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.
American Sports Story
Cast
American Sports Story is a TV show from Stu Zicherman and executive produced by Ryan Murphy. The series stars Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Tim Tebow. The sports anthology series serves as the fourth installment in Murphy’s “American Story” franchise.
