The complicated, stranger-than-fiction life story of Aaron Hernandez is getting the miniseries treatment on FX, and although critical reviews continue to skew positive (73% on Rotten Tomatoes), not everyone is bought in on this portrayal of Hernandez and the famed Patriot Way. Among the several clips going viral across the Internet, I still can't get over
the draft war room scene . A Tony-winning actor portrays Bill Belichick with some of the most bizarre behavior you'll see, only to be outdone by Robert Kraft's entrance moments later. https://twitter.com/SavageSports_/status/1842341748179185867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1842341748179185867%7Ctwgr%5E3dad2646344800d9344825b6b3b92c865b482f72%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F2024%2F10%2F05%2Ffxs-american-sports-story-aaron-hernandez-goes-viral-for-being-so-insanely-bad-its-good%2F No shade to the lead actor Josh Andrés Rivera portraying Hernandez or any of the rest of the clearly-qualified cast. If this debut of the
American Sports Story anthology series is meant to launch the sports equivalent of FX's longstanding
American Horror Story franchise, they may want to reevaluate how much to spend so it can be executed at a higher level. Everything looks a little rushed and slapped together compared to the higher-budget TV and streaming shows that are met with near-unanimous critical and audience acclaim. So with all that said, New England Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski was Hernandez's teammate. They were the dynamic duo of tight ends who created matchup nightmares for opposing defenses. Thanks to Kay Adams, we got Gronk reacting to the actor who portrays him in the show, Laith Wallschleger. Turns out Gronk has known him for almost a decade and a half — and even though Gronk himself is larger than life, he still thought his buddy's portrayal was a little much.
"It was definitely over the top, and you wanna know a fun fact about that clip, Kay? That is my good friend Laith, who is playing me there. I've known him for about 14 years, and he definitely went over the top, and I feel like it just fit the show perfectly, though. Especially with all the other characters and Coach Belichick, and just seeing Robert Kraft in this show as well. [...] A little exaggerated that's for sure, but it played the part in how this show was produced from all the clips that I saw." https://twitter.com/heykayadams/status/1844470971878838652 Gronk also adds that Wallschleger is his acting stand-in/double, but made sure to note that Laith is not as tall or as jacked as he is. The four-time Super Bowl champ did acknowledge that Laith nailed the Gronk laugh, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Because of Laith's role in the show, he actually missed out on working with Gronk on a commercial shoot, allegedly canceling at the last minute because, as Gronk states, he's becoming "big-time." I gotta say, among all the actors I've seen in the show, Wallschleger nails his portrayal the best of anyone. It's quite a task to resemble Gronk physically since he's so damn big. To be able to do that passably
and have the acting chops to back it up? Most impressive. Listen to how Gronk laughs in this iconic clip where he describes fake retiring to avoid being traded from New England to Detroit. Wallschleger almost couldn't be more spot-on. https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1253012415421263873 Logging all those hours as Gronk's stand-in for various projects appears to have paid off for Wallschleger. Now it might be his turn to be the big star going forward.
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