Simpson, O.J.

▪ American athlete

in full  Orenthal James Simpson 

born July 9, 1947, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.

 

 American collegiate and professional gridiron football player who was a premier running back known for his speed and elusiveness. His trial on murder charges in 1995 was one of the most celebrated criminal trials in American history.

      Simpson played football at Galileo High School in San Francisco, first as a tackle and then as a fullback. He attended San Francisco City College (1965–66) to achieve a scholastic record that allowed him to play at the University of Southern California (USC), where he set team records for yards gained by rushing: 1967, 1,415 yards; 1968, 1,709 yards. He was named All-American (All-America team) (1967–68), played in two Rose Bowl games, and won the Heisman Trophy as the best collegiate player of the season (1968). At USC he was also a member of a world-record-setting 440-yard relay team.

      Simpson, who was often called “Juice” because of his energetic runs and because his initials could stand for “orange juice,” was the number one draft choice of the American Football League (AFL) Buffalo Bills in 1969. The following year the AFL merged with the National Football League (NFL). The Bills were members of the American Football Conference (AFC) of the NFL when Simpson set a single-season record for yards gained rushing (2,003) in 1973. The Bills were never a contending team during his stay, but he was a great box-office draw. Injuries to his knees prompted the Bills to trade him in 1978 to the San Francisco 49ers, but he retired after the 1979 season. His 1975 record of most touchdowns scored in a season (23) stood until 1983, and his 1973 season rushing record for most yards gained lasted until 1984, when it was broken by Eric Dickerson. Simpson led the AFC in rushing yardage four times (1972–73, 1975–76). His career total yards gained (11,236) was second in the all-time rankings at the time of his retirement. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

      After retiring from football, Simpson became a film and television actor and sports commentator. On June 12, 1994, his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death outside her home in Los Angeles. Simpson was arrested and charged with the two murders on June 17; he pleaded not guilty and hired a team of prominent lawyers to handle his defense. His lengthy nationally televised trial became the focus of unprecedented media scrutiny. A jury acquitted Simpson of the murder charges on Oct. 3, 1995. In a separate civil trial decision in 1997, he was found liable for the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to the families. Simpson later collaborated (with Pablo F. Fenjves) on If I Did It, in which he hypothesized about how he would have committed the murders. Public outrage prevented its initial publication in 2006, but a bankruptcy court subsequently awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family, who released the work in 2007.

      Later that year, Simpson was arrested after he and several other men entered a Las Vegas hotel room and took memorabilia items that Simpson claimed had been stolen from him. The incident resulted in Simpson being charged with a number of crimes, including armed robbery and kidnapping. On Oct. 3, 2008, a jury found him guilty of all charges. He was later sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison, with a possible maximum sentence of 33 years.

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