American Sports Story
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This is the NFL Scouting Combine a bizarre tradition, in many ways, but a crucial one.
In a way, its the ideal setting for an episode of a show calledAmerican Sports Story.
Id watch a whole documentary about it.
But before the episode gets to that big event, it takes time to build some mystique.
along for moral support.
and Do you fuck cows?
With his mixed results, a lot rides on Aarons big interview.
At first, he nails it, answering questions with warmth and humor but also taking his interviewers seriously.
Aaron only stumbles when his father comes up in conversation.
It leaves Aaron looking a bit emotionally unstable, and his fate going forward is unclear.
Beyond the football stuff, there are two focuses here on a character level.
Obviously, the first is Aarons sexuality, which remains a central piece of his struggle.
Theres something a little odd about inserting a composite character in this role.
But Im even more mixed on the first scene of the episode, a flashback to D.J.
almost walking in on his brother being molested by their uncle Bobby on his sixth birthday.
We know from the BostonGlobesreportingthat the real D.J.
says Hernandez was molested as a young boy, but the person responsible has never been identified.
When his trauma later comes up in a fight with D.J.
Aaron flashes back and screams that D.J.
We havent seen Aaron lash out at his brother out of any resentment from the molestation before.
Does he feel guilty about what happened and prefer to just live in denial?
While training in Laguna, Aaron and D.J.
are in a pretty good place, running plays together and really reconnecting as brothers.
(Dad would be proud, D.J.
tells him, exactly what Aaron has always wanted to hear.)
But their dynamic gets dicey again as D.J.s professional jealousy rears its head.
But hes misguided in lashing out and blaming D.J.
and Murphy when he knows he only has himself to blame.
Even now, very few people are convinced that Aaron is truly ready for this.
But Birthday Money ends on an upswing, with D.J.
NFL Europe was dissolved in 2007, so what German team was Murphy suggesting for D.J.
?
