Norbert Leo Butz is glad he had limited knowledge of football — and Bill Belichick — before preparing to play the New England Patriots coach in American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez.
“When the role was first offered to me, my agents called me and said I was on a short list for Bill Belichick in American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez. The first question out of my mouth was, ‘Who is Bill Belichick? Remind me again,'” Butz, 57, exclusively told Us Weekly about joining the FX series. “I’m a diehard baseball fan but football had never been my sport. I had maybe watched half a dozen NFL games start to finish in my entire life.”
The distance from the sport ultimately helped Butz prepare for the role. “That worked in my favor,” Butz shared. “After having done the research and reading almost all the biographies on Belichick and listening to a hundred podcasts — now I know what a huge deal he is.”
Butz admitted, “Knowing what I know now, I don’t think I would have the confidence to play him. But at the time, I was just naive and dumb enough to say, ‘Sure, why not? This looks like a fun part.'”
After filming his scenes, Butz learned even more about Belichick’s journey in the NFL, adding, “I approached it as a character in a script that I found to be amusing, complicated, flawed and ultimately inspirational. I learned a ton. I just learned a ton about the sport and about him personally.”
Butz’s biggest struggle with American Sports Story was channeling Belichick’s passion for football.
“I knew early on I was never going to even be able to approach the kind of knowledge that this guy has. It wasn’t until I read a biography that David Halberstam wrote on Bill Belichick [titled The Education of a Coach] that I really started to see a way in,” he recalled. “It was less his football career than it was his relationship to his father. He worshiped his father and his dad was his biggest influence. I share all those things with him.”
Butz continued: “When you’re raised in families like ours, there’s a deep rooted sense of discipline. There is a deep ethos of you have to make your own way. Nothing is guaranteed for you. There’s kind of an innate conservatism that comes with that kind of a father. It somehow helped me to imagine how that upbringing then led to this illustrious career.”
American Sports Story, which debuted in September, is based on the “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc.” podcast, which focused on Hernandez’s time as a tight end with the University of Florida Gators before his stint with the New England Patriots. In addition to Belichick, 72, football fans see plenty of fictional versions of familiar faces including Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer and Brian Murphy.
“I would like to think that playing real people is always tricky. I’ve done it a few times in my career and I don’t love it — to be honest with you,” Butz told Us. “I loved this because like I said, I didn’t have that connection to Belichick. It’s really tricky.”
The FX series chronicles Hernandez’s legal issues off the football field while exploring real events that led to the athlete’s death. As a result, several people in Hernandez’s professional life are in the spotlight on the show — but not always for the best reasons. American Sports Story not only highlights the decline in Hernandez’s life, but it also asks whether those around him ignored the warning signs.
Butz’s main focus was doing Belichick justice, telling Us, “I highly doubt that he would watch [American Sports Story]. It was a really painful time for him. But if he ever were to, I really would hope [that he sees how] we tried to approach it with sensitivity and with a sense of integrity.”
The opportunity to play Belichick made Butz a “huge fan.”
“I know he’s a divisive figure. I think he’s just brilliant. And guess what? He’s funny. We’re now learning that the guy is not just this brilliant tactician and strategist and football genius. We now know from the Tom Brady roast and these commercials what an all-around decent human being he is,” Butz gushed. “I came to really care about him and he’s done so much for the sport. He’s done so much for so many athletes. He’s brought so much joy and inspiration to so many millions of fans.”
He concluded: “I hope this last go around for him — whatever it is — is fulfilling to him. How do you follow that kind of a career? But I wish him all the best.”
American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez airs on FX Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
