Orenthal James Simpson has passed away at the age of 76 of prostate cancer. It's sent shockwaves among the news outlets and the world. To say that the man was a controversial figure can be seen as an understatement. Throughout his lifetime, he had many highs and lows. However, it's the lows that will be highlighted when he is talked about.
He was born in 1947. He was given the name Orenthal by his aunt. It was a name of a famous French artist who she liked. He was known as O.J. since birth. He would only find out the name of Orenthal when he was in the third grade.
He grew up in San Francisco. He developed rickets. As a result, he had to wear leg braces until he was five. It was wearing these braces that caused him to have a bowlegged stance. He earned money by scalping tickets and collecting seat cushions. In 1952, his parents separated. He and his two siblings (one bother - Melvin Leon and one sister - Shirley) lived with their mother.
In his teen years, he joined a street gang, the Persian Warriors. He was incarcerated at the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center. His first wife, Marguerite Whitley, would describe him as, "really an awful person then." While in prison, he met baseball star Willie Mays who convinced Simpson to change his ways and to reform.
He played for his high school football team, the Galileo Lions. He would earn money by organising dances and charging admissions. His lackluster grades in high school caused no major interests from college recruiters. He enrolled at the City College of San Francisco. He played football as both a running back and as a defensive back. It was his performances that caused many colleges to seek him as a transfer student. He would go to the University of Southern California.
His NFL career began in 1968 when he would be picked up by the Buffalo Bills. He entered the game with high expectations. These expectations were not met for the first three years. His first coach, John Rauch, didn't want to center his team around a running back. Consequently, Simpson was shoved to blocking and receiving duties. Rauch would soon resign and the Bills would bring in Harvey Johnson. In the single season that he coached, Simpson remained ineffective.
The new coach, Lou Saban, would center his plays around Simpson. This would work wonders. He would make history in 1973 when he became the first player to break the highly coveted 2,000 yard rushing mark with 2,003 total rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Before the 1978 season, he got traded to the San Francisco 49ers. He played for them for two seasons.
While all this was happening, he also started aacting in the background. His role in the Hertz commercials in 1975 was the catalyst for his uprise in his acting activities. He liked to play the bad guy, ""I've got to tear down that picture of O.J. Simpson, the clean-cut athlete, to get believability into whatever part I happen to be playing." His inspiration for acting came after watching Lee Marvin and Richard Burton. He aspired to win an Oscar or Emmy.
As mentioned earlier, Simpson's first wife was Marguerite Whitley. They got married in 1967 and had three children together. Simpson first met Nicole Brown in 1977. He started to date Brown even while married. This affair ended his first marriage. The divorce was finalised in 1979. The two got married in 1985 and had two children together.
The marriage wasn't all rosy. There were accusations of domestic violence by Simpson on Brown. By the end of 1989, Brown claimed that the police had been called on eight separate occasions. In 1992, Brown filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. There were attempts to reconcile but it ultimately failed multiple times and ended in 1994.
The real talking point of Simpson's life occured on June 13, 1994 when Brown and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found murdered. It had been determined that the two pased away the day before. Simpson and his attorneys agreed that he would turn himself in on 17 June at 11:00. However, this didn't happen. What instead happened was a televised car chase. In the process, he held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself if he didn't return to his Brentwood residence. He was arrested before 21:00.
Simpson's defence team was known as the "Dream Team." This team included: Robert Kardashian; Johnnie Cochran; Robert Shapiro; F. Lee Bailey & Alan Dershowitz. This trial was called the "Trial of the century." The jury were sequestered for 266 days. This was the longest in California history. It ended up including 10 Black people in a 12 person jury. Before the trial began, it was discovered that the police investigation had been flawed: "Photo evidence had been lost or mislabeled; DNA had been collected and stored improperly, raising a possibility that it was tainted."
In 1995, while waiting to appear before a jury for his trial hearing, Simpson published the book I Want to Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions; which was intended to be a "self-portrait of [his] mind at this critical time" and included letters he had received while incarcerated. It was produced with Lawrence Schiller.
The trial ended after 11 months on 3 October, 1995. He was acquitted of the charges. No further arrests or convictions were made. Despite being cleared on criminal charges, he got sued in civil court by the Goldman and Brown family. He was found guilty this time around. He was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in damages; $8.5 million in compensatory damages to the Goldman family & $12.5 million in punitive damages to each family. His net worth at the time was $11 million.
Simpson would write a book: If I Did It. This was supposed to be his account of how he would hypothetically kill Brown and Goldman. Pablo Fenjves ghostwrote the book. The Goldman family had a problem with it and took Simpson to civil court again; citing to obtain control over Simpson's "right to publicity", for purposes of satisfying the judgment in the civil court case. In August 2007, a Florida bankruptcy court awarded the book rights to the Goldman family. This was to partially satisfy the unpaid civil judgment.
In 2007, Simpson was charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery and using a deadly weapon in relation to a robbery in Las Vegas. He and three other men were convicted on all charges on 3 October 2007. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison, with a possibility of parole after eight years. In 2013, Simpson would be granted parole on some charges but remained in prison on weapons and assault charges. On 20 July 2017, the board decided to grant Simpson parole, with certain parole conditions such as travel restrictions, non-contact with co-defendants from the robbery & not drinking excessively. He was released on October 1, having served almost nine years. In December 2021, Simpson was released an early release from parole by the Nevada Division of Parole and Probation, for good behaviour.
In May 2023, Simpson reported that he had been diagnosed with cancer and expressed confidence that he would beat it. He also said he started chemotherapy. In February 2024, it was reported that Simpson was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. A week and a half before his death, Simpson cancelled a scheduled memorabilia signing because he was not feeling well. In the final days before his death, all of Simpson's children visited him. He died of the disease on 10 April 2024. At the time, Simpson had been living in Las Vegas, right next to the Rhodes Ranch Golf Club.
His death hasn't made everyone sad. Some are still critical of him. Caitlyn Jenner wrote, "Good Riddance OJ Simpson." She described him as, "...The most narcissistic, egocentric, neediest a--hole in the world of sports I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of him." At the time of the trial, she was married to Kris Jenner who was the ex-wife of Robert Kardashian. Marc Lamont Hill said, "O.J. Simpson was an abusive liar who abandoned his community long before he killed two people in cold blood."
It's quite clear that Simpson had a colourful and interesting life. I'm just disappointed that I wasn't old enough to witness these events. As a fan of true crime, I would've been fascinated to witness these events. It's hard to imagine another athlete living or going through a similar series of events. I would think that Simpson's life trajectory could be seen as an example of what not to do. It's important to have a clear and clean record and image.
If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.
- Johnnie Cochran