COVER LETTER

This final draft of my Progression 3 essay was not any easier than the draft, even though I
already had a good foundation. I struggled a lot with my time management as I had two finals the
day it was due, so I could only really finish the paper completely Monday afternoon. It was a
long process, but the satisfaction of finally finishing it was a great feeling.
I feel like the aspects of my argument have expanded since the draft. I added how
homosexuality is viewed in football as well as further talking about masculinity and the NFL’s
systematic denial of CTE. This draft took a lot of time and effort and a lot of thinking as well. I
know that sounds like an obvious statement, but it really surprised me how much time I spent
just looking at my screen and thinking about what to write. I underestimated the amount of time
that it would take to fully develop my ideas. This is probably a given, but this class and this
progression specifically is completely different to any sort of writing I did throughout high
school. It took more time, effort, and thinking to write. However, it also helped me think deeper
about reading and writing in different ways.
Throughout this progression, the thing that surprised me the most was the amount of
reading I had to do. The countless amounts of source titles I had to read, the amount of abstracts
I read, the amount of articles, books, and journals I read, led to many hours being spent just
reading. Although it was very tedious and took lots of time, I feel like it helped me understand
the format of my argument a lot better and understand the concept of analyzing sources much
better.
Out of the three progressions we completed, I think this one has helped me grow the
most. The freedom of picking our own topic and its relevant sources helped me discover a lot
about how I read and how I write. I learned a lot about how to analyze sources and how to
incorporate the scholarly arguments into my own writing. Once again, it was a long process, but
rewarding in the end.
I also enjoyed this progression more than the other two. I liked that I was able to pick my
own topic about something that I enjoyed. In this way, this progression didn’t seem as
troublesome or tedious to do. I enjoyed rewatching the show and reading a lot about things
related to it, something I didn’t do the first time. I feel like writing this paper has helped me look
at football, something that I love, in a different way.
I do not at all feel that this is a perfect paper; this is my first experience in writing
something like this. However, I am pleased with the results and feel like I greatly improved my
draft and my initial proposal. I am satisfied with my work and gave it my all, which is all I can
ask for.

Thank you,
Matyas Williams
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Matyas Williams

EXPOS-UA 1-001

Progression 3 Draft

16 December 2024

Aaron Hernandez and American Football Culture

Aaron Hernandez was a tight end for the New England Patriots in the National Football

League. He had a very successful, albeit short, career, with a promising future ahead of him.

However, on June 26, 2013, Hernandez was arrested for the murder of semi-professional player

Odin Lloyd. After an extensive trial, Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and

sentenced to life in prison in April of 2015. Hernandez’s story is recounted in the Netflix

docuseries Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez. In this enthralling three-episode show,

friends, former teammates, and other experts are interviewed to detail Aaron Hernandez’s life

and his descent from NFL stardom to convicted murderer. It details the murder Hernandez

committed and the process of his trials and arrest, concluding with his suicide in his jail cell.

Through the interviewees, many aspects of Hernandez’s life are displayed, all relating back to

football, which leads to the question: How does Hernandez’s life and the murder he committed

provide an insight into modern football culture in America?

To analyze how Hernandez’s case was an exemplification of modern football culture, we

first have to define “football culture” itself. The modern era of football as it is known today

began in the late 1960s, when the AFL joined with the NFL to form one league. In his book The

Last Headbangers NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s: The Era That Created Modern
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Sports, author Kevin Cook illustrates the football culture of the 1970s and how it set the

foundation for the game of football today. Cook describes the 1970s game as “run-first, block-

hard, chew-dirt football ” (Cook 9), even comparing it to a war: “With short bullet passes and

long bombs, he marches his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a

sustained ground attack that punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line”

(Cook 41). Additionally, Cook describes how players who did not hit as hard or didn’t work hard

enough in practice received the “Bleeding Pussy Award, a tampon” (Cook 43). All these factors

illustrate the philosophy that went into football: hit hard, and if you do not hit hard, you are not

good enough. This philosophy can be seen in the people interviewed in the docuseries. Tim

Sansoucie, the father of Aaron’s high school quarterback, said that, “Even kids learn at an early

age, in a midget football field, don’t come off the field. Play hurt” (Episode 1, 16:48).

Sansoucie’s words reinforce Cook’s ideas about football culture from the 70s transcending into

the modern game: if you are not tough enough, you are not good enough.

The physicality of the sport that has been prevalent since the 1970s relates to another

massive part of the sport: the masculinity associated with football. Scholars Jesse A. Steinfeld et

al. explore the endorsement of masculinity by coaches, especially at the collegiate level.

“Being a man means being accountable and responsible, coaches teach players what it means to

be a man, the sport of football teaches players what it means to be a man” (Steinfeld et al). The

“gender role socialization paradigm” (Steinfeld et al) that the scholars describe is evident in

football culture: it is perceived as a man’s sport throughout all levels. This sporting environment

is fostered by coaches from a young age, leading to athletes subconsciously relating football to

being a man.
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The scholarly conversation of masculinity in its relation to football further ties into

another aspect of football culture: its aversion to homosexuality. Scholar Simon Gardiner

comments on the homosexual attitude in male sports, saying, “The persisting fear is that being an

openly gay elite footballer will ring the death knell of one’s sporting career” (Gardiner). He talks

about how elite athletes chose “not to disclose their non-heterosexual sexual orientation for fear

of, and in order to avoid, homophobic discrimination from fans, agents, the media and their

employers” (Gardiner). Gardiner adds a new aspect to homophobia, saying that not only would

gay players be criticized by the fans, but additionally would have less job opportunities solely

because of their homosexuality. Hernandez’s sexuality is a main topic in Killer Inside; his high

school quarterback Dennis Sansoucie details how he and Aaron maintained a homosexual

relationship throughout junior high and high school. It also talks about how Hernandez

maintained his sexuality hidden as he was terrified of his father finding out, someone who is

described as a “father that slapped the faggot right out of you” (Episode 1, 48:31). The negative

attitude towards homosexuals exemplified by Aaron and his father support Gardiner’s idea that

football is “one of the greatest fortresses of homophobia” (Gardiner). The negative relationship

between homosexuality and football Gardiner describes is even seen in Hernandez’s final

moments; he committed suicide only two days after a news report came out saying that he had

killed Lloyd because Lloyd had caught him engaging in homosexual activities.

Ryan O’Callaghan, a former NFL offensive tackle featured in Killer Inside, talks about

his experience as a closeted gay man. He describes how he “relied on all the stereotypes of a

football player” (Episode 1, 51:01) in order to suppress his sexuality and fit in with his

teammates. He talks about how he would, “trying to fit in, would say [homosexual slurs]”

(Episode 1, 51:21). Ryan’s attitude towards his sexuality and what it would mean for his football
 4

career supports Gardiner’s argument that he was scared that being openly gay would damage his

career. Another scholar, Francisco Sanchez, talks about the effects masculine stereotypes have

on gay men, commenting on how “societal conceptions of masculinity affect the self-image and

relationships of many gay men in the United States” (Sanchez 1). O’Callaghan adhered to these

social conceptions of masculinity, using football as a “beard” to hide his sexuality and maintain

his image and status as a masculine football player. O’Callaghan details how his “plan was play

football as long as possible… And then I planned on killing myself” (Episode 3, 52:41). His

comments illustrate the extremes homosexuals go to adhere to the masculine stereotypes Sanchez

talks about.

Something that stood out to me while watching the documentary was the idolization of

Hernandez even in the face of his arrest. This can be seen in several instances, one such being the

phenomenon “Hernandezing,” where fans would post pictures of themselves with the hashtag

#Hernandezing. In these pictures, they would put their shirts over their arms in the same way

Hernandez was when he was arrested. On the day of Super Bowl XLVI, students at the school

where Terri Hernandez, Aaron’s mother, taught held a ceremony known as “Aaron Hernandez

Day.” At the ceremony, people commented to Terri that “You have dozens of kids here who

want to be your son” (Episode 2, 48:13). During the jury deliberation, reporter Nancy Grace was

asked if she thought the state had a lock on the case. She responded, “There is a mountain of

evidence showing that Hernandez murdered Lloyd. Here’s the problem: he’s a sports superstar.”

These moments where Hernandez is placed on a pedestal even when he is facing a first degree

murder conviction exemplify the idolization of sports stars. Scholar’s Hymen and Sierra explore

this phenomenon, commenting how “sport celebrities often are depicted as bigger than life”

(Hymen). They argue that seemingly innocuous factors such as Fantasy Football and sports
 5

betting place a greater emphasis on the individual player rather than the success of the whole

team, leading to people “[glorifying] the wrong people as role models, and [making] people into

commodities” (Hymen).

This idolization of athletes is a key aspect of “football culture.” Author Frank Hoffman

comments on this, saying, “This prestige is enhanced by the work football players do, not only

because it is part of the entertainment industry but also because it represents power, masculinity,

aggression, endurance, and teamwork, attributes highly prized in American culture” (Hoffman

87). Aaron Hernandez embodies this “highly prized” attitude to the point where he felt

invincible. After not being charged for several crimes and not being charged solely because he

was an integral member of the University of Florida Gators football team, he began to ask

himself, “What can I get away with down here?” (Episode 2, 25:23). Police and accusers letting

Hernandez off the hook only due to his athlete status exemplifies the idolization of football

players in society. As a friend of Odin Lloyd describes it, “The more you get away with shit, the

more you feel untouchable” (Episode 2, 24:25). The “invincibleness” Hernandez was described

as feeling provides an exemplification of the negative effects of athlete idolization. Kevin

Armstrong states that in college towns of Gainesville, Florida, Hernandez faced “No

repercussions for what he had done, as long as he excelled on the football field” (Episode 2,

26:44). This once again exemplifies the different standard athletes are held to that Hoffmann

comments on, their “highly prized” assets that bring in money deemed more important than any

sort of misconduct. Even throughout the interviews in the docuseries, this “different standard”

athletes faced was evident. Patrick Haggan, the Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney who

participated in Hernandez’s trial, states, “How can an individual, who has everything going for

him, who has an incredible athletic ability and career, and everything going for him financially
 6

and otherwise, how could he get involved in something like this?” (Episode 2, 1:20). Haggan

once again verbalizes Hymen’s idea of fanaticism having a negative impact on society: when a

football player is involved, “Emotions of the moment dominate the reaction of sports fans, while

logic is generally absent” (Hoffmann 136). The absence of logic that Hoffmann theorizes

explains the reactions of Nancy Grace and Patrick Haggan: they are an embodiment of the NFL’s

fanaticism in America, holding athletes to a different standard.

A prevalent issue in the NFL in recent years is that of chronic traumatic encephalopathy,

or CTE, a neurodegenerative disease that results due to repetitive head trauma. In the docuseries,

CTE is presented as a largely negative force, with opposing lawyer Patrick Haggan commenting

on how the results were “astounding” (Episode 3, 57:02) and Boston University neurologist Dr.

Ann McKee saying that “this would be the first case we’d ever seen of that kind of damage in

such a young individual” (Episode 3, 56:42). Scholar Jesse Mez states findings from a study

where from a “sample of deceased football players who donated their brains for research, a high

proportion had neuropathological evidence of CTE, suggesting that CTE may be related to prior

participation in football” (Mez). Mez’s hypothesis of a correlation between football and CTE and

studies of Hernandez’s brain illustrate the causal relationship of football and degenerative

diseases. Scholar Daniel Kain theorizes how NFL gives less importance to concussions and

subsequent neurological diseases, saying how “The NFL's internal Concussion Committee

maintains that if multiple concussions are managed properly, the player will not suffer any long-

term effects” (Kain), which represents society’s “minority opinion” (Kain) on the issue. Even the

title of the article – “It’s Just a Concussion” – illustrates how concussions are downplayed in

modern football. The PBS Documentary “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis”

details how “former players have claimed the league tried to cover up how football inflicted
 7

long-term brain injuries on many players” (League of Denial). The film further supports Kain’s

ideas on how the NFL tried to draw attention away from concussions and health concerns.

Kain argues how the NFL systematically downplays and denies the evidence of a causal

link between repeated concussions sustained during play and long-term cognitive decline, despite

growing scientific evidence. Interviewees in the documentary also illustrate how CTE was

downplayed not only in the NFL, but also in college football. Chris Borland, a former NFL

linebacker, talks about how CTE was considered a joke in college. He says that they had “A

caricature of the issue. We would joke occasionally later in college, like if somebody forgot their

keys. Like, “Haha, the CTE is kicking in!” (Episode 2, 44:34). Borland’s stories on how CTE

was viewed supports Kain’s argument of the NFL’s systematic downplay of the effects of CTE,

illustrating how this downplay affected even the players’ perspective of the disease. Hernandez’s

severe brain trauma and the little importance given to it by the league adheres to Kain’s claim

that they downplayed the negative effects in order to keep athletes in the game.

Another interesting aspect of footbal’s downplay of CTE and injuries in general is the

role team management played. Scholar Nicoleas Mayne documents the use of Toradol in the

NFL, a pain-killing injection given to players by the team so they could play through pain/injury.

Mayne claims that ”the NFL violated its duty of reasonable care by providing Toradol and other

medications without players' informed consent and without informing players of the dangers of

addiction and other health risks” (Mayne). In the docuseries, Chris Borland is quoted saying that

college teams were “willing to put kids, young men, in situations that will compromise their

long-term health, just to beat Northwestern” (Episode 2, 12:19). Borland supports Mayne’s

argument that the NFL and football in general provided Toradol just to keep them playing with

no consideration for their long-term health. In the docuseries, an interview of Patriots owner
 8

Robert Kraft is shown where he says, “I’d recommend to every mother out there who wants their

young man to grow up special that they play, too” (Episode 3, 1:00:33). Kraft’s stance on the

issue is interesting – he is the owner of a multi-billion dollar business that relies heavily on the

players to bring in “tremendous amounts of money” (Episode 2, 26:38). His insinuation that

young men who play football grow up “special” reflects the themes of masculinity stated earlier

on. Kraft’s comments illustrate the idea that the game of football is all about the money – the

players are described as “expended assets” (Episode 3. 1:01:42) whose health does not matter.

This ties into Kain’s article on the downplaying of CTE and Mayne’s discussion on the NFL’s

use of Toradol regardless of health risks, further commenting on the “football culture” of the

NFL.

The general public views Aaron Hernandez’s case as a story of a man who had

everything and threw it all away. However, I believe his story is an exemplification of the dark

side of modern football culture and the possible negative effects of the standards these athletes

are held to. In the end, Hernandez’s case illustrates the wrong priorities in the NFL and the world

of football in general, showing how an extreme case such as his can have disastrous

consequences.
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WORKS CITED

Cook, Kevin. The Last Headbangers NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s: The Era

That Created Modern Sports. W.W. Norton and Company, 2013.

Gardiner, Simon, and Louisa Riches. “Racism and homophobia in English football: The

Equality Act, positive action and the limits of law.” International Journal of

Discrimination and the Law, vol. 16, no. 2–3, June 2016, pp. 102–121,

https://doi.org/10.1177/1358229116655648.

Hoffmann, Frank. Football and American Identity. Haworth Press, 2005.

Hyman, Michael R., and Jeremy J. Sierra. “Idolizing sport celebrities: A gateway to

psychopathology?” Young Consumers, vol. 11, no. 3, 31 Aug. 2010, pp. 226–238,

https://doi.org/10.1108/17473611011074296.

Kain, Daniel J. “‘It’s Just a Concussion:’ The National Football League’s Denial of a

Causal Link between Multiple Concussions and Later-Life Cognitive Decline.” Lexis® -

Sign In | LexisNexis, Mar. 2009, advance.lexis.com/document/?

pdmfid=1000516&crid=f0800cd0-f37c-421a-b28c-db1f94b9751d&pddocfullpath=

%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fanalytical-materials%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A4YMN-

FC60-00CV-903C-00000-

00&pdcontentcomponentid=146217&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=hcgmk

&earg=sr0&prid=96addd01-2cc2-4fae-a704-202975059b75.
 10

“League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 5

Dec. 2024, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/league-of-denial/.

Mayne, Nicholas R. "Derailing the T Train: Curbing the Abuse of Toradol in the National

Football League." Sports Lawyers Journal, 25, 167 Spring, 2018.

advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn%3acontentItem

%3a5SKX-DW40-02C9-D0N9-00000-

00&context=1519360&identityprofileid=9M4FW351751. Accessed December 16, 2024.

Mez, Jesse et al. “Clinicopathological Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

in Players of American Football.” JAMA vol. 318,4 (2017): 360-370.

doi:10.1001/jama.2017.8334

Sánchez, Francisco J., et al. “Reported effects of masculine ideals on gay men.”

Psychology of Men & Masculinity, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 73–87,

https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013513.

Steinfeldt, Jesse A., et al. “Masculinity socialization in sports: Influence of college

football coaches.” Psychology of Men & Masculinity, vol. 12, no. 3, July 2011, pp.

247–259, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020170.
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REFLECTION

When I learned that I had to take a Writing as Inquiry course in my first semester at

NYU, I thought that it would be an easy class like all of my high school English classes were. I

thought that it would be a class where I had to put in minimal effort and do what I had always

done: write the papers the night before and get a good grade. However, by the third week of

class, I knew that this class would be different than anything I had ever done before. Reading

Foucault’s Scientia Sexualis was an eye opening experience to what college writing meant. I

quickly realized that I had to abandon everything that I thought I knew about writing and learn in

a different way.

While I struggled a lot during this course, Frederick Douglass’ quote, “If there is no

struggle, there is no progress” really sums up my time in Writing as Inquiry. Yes, there were lots

of hard moments where I felt really unmotivated; yes, I wanted to give up many times and hand

in a mediocre paper; yes, I sometimes disliked all the exercises we had to do. However,

throughout the struggle that has been the first semester, I feel like I have come out of it with a

new idea of what writing is. Instead of just repeating things I had read or heard or following a

teacher’s instructions on a paper, I have learned to incorporate my own opinions and arguments

into scholarly writing. I have also learned to question things that I recently read and thought of as

a fact. Like in Progression 2, where we had to write our opinion on the scholarly discussion over

animal minds – I would have never thought to challenge a scholar before this class.
 12

That aspect of the class – scholarly writing – is what I have most appreciated from this

class. In my career as a pre-med student and hopefully one day a doctor, I will have to write

countless scientific and scholarly papers. I feel like this class has given me a good foundation to

be able to write quality papers and contribute positively to a scholarly community.

Overall, while this class was difficult, I am grateful for the lessons I have learned. Thank

you, Professor Califf, for helping me expand my horizons in the field of writing. While it was

incredibly frustrating at times, I am happy that I have grown as a writer and scholar and am

excited for what the future holds for me.