Last Week Pro Football Hall of Fame running back
O.J. Simpson died of complications from cancer.
"On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace."
-- The Simpson Family
With that, the death of Hall-of-Fame running back O.J. Simpson was announced Thursday morning on his X (formerly Twitter) account, with his attorney later confirming Simpson's passing, according to Yahoo! News.
He was 76.
O.J. Simpson was one of the greatest running backs in pro football history, yet that is not how he's best remembered. Instead of a football legend, he's known as the defendant in a double-murder trial ... "the trial of the century" ... that, in 1995, made Simpson a freed man and a social outcast.
Though he was found not guilty, the trial inaugurated a series of events that tarnished Simpson's football legacy, cratered his popularity and ruined what had been an American success story that began in the 1960s.
Two years after his acquittal, a separate civil trial found Simpson liable in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the families of the deceased. Then, one decade afterward, he was found guilty of armed robbery and other felonies that had him serve nine years in a remote Nevada prison.
He was released on parole in October, 2017.
Simpson's life was unlike any other in sports. No one rose to such heights, only to become the object of disdain and a virtual persona non grata. If he was sought by the media he once courted, it wasn't to discuss his football accolades but to get him to admit his role in the killing of Brown and Goldman.
He never did, though he sometimes came close.
But that did little to sway public opinion, with news of his death Thursday provoking a wave of mixed reactions across the country. Nevertheless, the Heisman Trust mourned the passing of its 1968 trophy recipient, while the Pro Football Hall of Fame took a more neutral approach, celebrating his accomplishments as a first-ballot Hall of Famer (1985).
"O.J. Simpson," president Jim Porter said in a prepared statement, "was the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards. His on-field contributions will be preserved in the Hall’s archives in Canton, Ohio."
Though Simpson's football accomplishments were overshadowed by events of the past three decades, his legacy as one of the game's great running backs remains. In 11 pro seasons, he won four rushing titles, ran for over 11,000 yards, scored 76 times and played in five Pro Bowls. He also was the first NFL back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, gaining 200 in the 1973 finale to finish with 2,003 ... when the league played 14-game seasons.
"I was part of the history of the game," he said later. "If I did nothing else in my life, I'd made my mark."
Simpson was born and raised in San Francisco where, as a troubled youth, he joined a street gang and spent time in juvenile hall. But his life changed when he met baseball great Willie Mays, who encouraged him to avoid trouble. Simpson reformed and became an All-City football star at San Francisco's Galileo High.
After a couple of years playing JuCo football, he earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California where he set records, twice led the nation in rushing and, as a senior, won the Heisman Trophy. He was college football's biggest star then, rivaling, among others, Red Grange (Illinois), Bronko Nagurski (Minnesota), Doc Blanchard (Army), Doak Walker (SMU), Jim Brown (Syracuse) and Gale Sayers (Kansas).
It was the same story when he joined pro football as the Buffalo Bills' first pick in the 1969 AFL–NFL common draft. He set a passel of records, was the NFL's 1973 MVP, three times was the AFC Offensive Player of the Year and was chosen to the 1970s' all-decade team. Were there an award for the league's best player of the 1970s, it would've been Simpson.
He was that good.
He was also named to the NFL's 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time teams, the latter chosen after Simpson was incarcerated, stirring some controversy at the time. But his football record speaks for itself: He ended his career second only to Jim Brown in rushing yards with 11,236 and was chosen to the Pro Football Hall after the minimum five-year wait.
After retirement, Simpson never wandered far from the public limelight. He frequently endorsed products, with a Hertz Rental Car commercial that had him running through an airport the most memorable. He also took up acting (he'd made a couple of small appearances while in college) and found success co-starring in films like "The Towering Inferno" and "Capricorn One."
His most recognizable role, however, was that of Detective Norberg in the "Naked Gun" comedy series -- that is, until he was charged in connection with the double-murder, fled authorities in a memorable car chase watched by millions on live TV, arrested and later acquitted.
With those events, Simpson's legacy was forever damaged. The majority of Americans then believed he was guilty, just as they did over 20 years later. A poll in 2016 reflected the same sentiments, though there were differences along racial lines.
From hero to pariah, Simpson's journey had the highest of highs -- Heismans and MVPs -- and the lowest of lows. So it's hard to articulate just what his legacy is. But, in the end, maybe it's not so complicated. Maybe it's as simple as what Hall-of-Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure once voiced of his former teammate.
"You can never know what someone is capable of," he said.
