Hall of Fame former NFL running back and controversial figure O.J. Simpson is dead at 76 after battling cancer according to his family.
“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 posted Thursday morning on O.J.'s official X/Twitter account.
Simpson went from gridiron hero to disgraced convicted criminal in one of the biggest falls from grace in American history.
The tarnished life of O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was unquestionably one of the greatest running backs in football history. During a storied college football career at USC, he rushed for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior at USC before taking home the 1968 Heisman Trophy. After that, he became the No. 1 overall pick of the Buffalo Bills in the 1969 NFL Draft.
Over nine seasons in Buffalo, Simpson made six Pro Bowls, five All-Pro teams, and won the 1973 AP NFL MVP Award. After two seasons at the end of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, he retired with 11,236 yards and 61 rushing touchdowns before entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Following his death, the Hall of Fame released a statement detailing his football achievements, per The 33rd Team's Ari Mierov, leaving out any off-field controversy.
When his playing days were over, Simpson became a media darling, broadcasting football games for ABC and NBC, becoming a well-known pitchman for companies like Hertz, and acting in numerous TV shows and movies, like the Naked Gun franchise.
By the early 1990s, Simpson was one of the most successful and beloved former NFL players ever, before he quickly became arguably the most disgraced and notorious figure of the last 50 years in American pop culture.
On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her acquaintance, Ronald Goldman, were murdered at Brown Simpson's Los Angles-area home. Following the infamous White Ford Bronco car chase, the LAPD arrested Simpson for the crime. The ensuing trial was watched by millions of Americans and culminated in October 1995 when an estimated 100 million viewers tuned in to see the jury come to its not-guilty verdict.
Despite not facing criminal punishment, Simpson was found liable for wrongful death in the ensuing civil trial in 1997.
His legal troubles did not stop there. In 2007, Simpson and a group of men entered a hotel room to get back the former football's star memorabilia at gunpoint. This led to his arrest and subsequent trial where Simpson was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping leading to a jail sentence. O.J. was released in 2017 after serving nine years in prison.
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