Aaron Hernandez’s “God Forgives” Back Tattoo in American Sports Story Explained

Warning: Spoilers ahead for American Sports Story Episode 6.

American Sports Story Episode 6 “Herald Street” features Aaron Hernandez getting one of his most notable and potentially incriminating tattoos. Josh Rivera leads the American Sports Story Cast as Aaron Hernandez, the former collegiate and NFL superstar tight end who was convicted of murdering semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd in 2015. The first two episodes of American Sports Story Gain a basic understanding of Aaron Hernandez’s complicated upbringing and accelerated path to becoming a Florida Gator before joining the NFL’s New England Patriots in 2010. American Sports Story Depicts several NFL players, including Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, Tom Brady and Tim Tebow.

American Sports Story Episode 3 chronicles Hernandez’s celebrity status in the University of Florida before finally declaring for the 2010 NFL Draft. American Sports Story Episode 4 Chronicles more of the details of Hernandez’s transition from being the 2010 John Mackey Award winner to having his draft stock plummet ahead of the NFL Draft due to off-the-field concerns. American Sports Story Episode 5 chronicles Hernandez’s early days as a rookie on the New England Patriots and explores the influences of his new head coach Bill Belichick while Episode 6 depicts a violent shootout Hernandez was allegedly involved in with his friend Sherrod.

Why Aaron Hernandez Got a “God Forgives” Tattoo: Meaning Explained

Hernandez got it just weeks before he was arrested for killing Odin Lloyd

American Sports Story Episode 6 depicts Josh Rivera’s dramatized characterization of Aaron Hernandez getting a “God Forgives” tattoo on the center if his back. The tattoo is inverted which only makes it legible in a mirror, which is a notable feature that separates it from the real-life Hernadnez’s other tattoos. American Sports Story Continuously depicts Hernandez’s habit of getting tattoosThat started when he was a standout tight end at the University of Florida. Several of Hernandez’s friends and love interests in the series point out his tattoos, including his high school teammate Dennis Sansouki, who sees them as a change in Hernandez’s character.

While American Sports Story Offering a fairly accurate recreation of Hernandez’s tattoos on Rivera’s body, the series places a specific emphasis on his “God Forgives”. In the series, Hernandez gets the tattoo shortly after the alleged murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a drive-by shooting in Boston’s theater district. The series depicts Hernandez brutally murdering two men who spilled a drink on him in a nightclub, which is what the real-life Hernandez was accused of doing in 2017. Prosecutors presented Hernandez’s “God Forgives” tattoo and other images of guns and shell casings as evidence That Hernandez was guilty of the double murder.

Aaron Hernadez’s tattoos have connections to his other crimes

Two tattoos of guns point to two separate shootings

Although not all of Hernandez’s tattoos were believed to be incriminating evidence, prosecutors certainly believed that some of them were essentially admissions of guilt for various violent acts. They believed that one of Hernandez’s tattoos on his arm depict the chamber of a revolver with five bullets encasedWhich is consistent with the prosecution’s theory that Hernandez shot Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado with five bullets. While American Sports Story Not showing Hernandez getting tattoos of guns and bullets on screen, the “God Forgives” tattoo is meant to encapsulate Hernandez’s potentially incriminating ones.

The alleged murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, for which Hernandez was found not guilty in 2017, occurred in July 2012 before Hernandez received a 5-year, $40 million contract extension from the New England Patriots and just five months after Hernandez played for the Patriots. In Super Bowl XLVI. The case was considered unsolved until after Hernandez was arrested and charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in June 2013, which raised suspicions of his involvement after he and Avery S. Bradley, or shared in ASSwere seen in the same Boston nightclub as De Abreu and Furtado the night they were killed. Hernandez also has another tattoo of a pistol and shell casingWhat prosecutors claimed was evidence that he shot Bradley in the face in Florida.

American Sports Story gets the location of Aaron Hernandez’s “God forgive” tattoo wrong

The series moves it from his arm to the center of his back

American Sports Story Intentionally misplaced Hernandez’s “God Forgives” tattoo in episode 6, relocating it from his right arm to the center of his back in the series. The most obvious reason for doing this is for dramatic effect, though The series makes it seem like Hernandez was guilty of the double murder When he is, in fact, acquitted of both charges. American Sports Story Producers spoke about their belief that Hernandez did kill de Abreu and Furtado in cold blood and that the jury got it wrong. That would explain why they changed the size, shape and location of Hernandez’s “God Forgives” tattoo and framed it as a direct admission of guilt in American Sports Story.