OJ Simpson, who made his name as a revered figure on the American football field, passed away due to cancer at the age of 76 on April 10th, 2024. Renowned for his incredible ability to outrun and outmanoeuvre his opponents, Simpson became an icon both in collegiate and professional circles.
Possessing a remarkable charm and appeal, he appeared on both the big screen and television, becoming famous for his Hertz commercial in which he is seen effortlessly navigating through an airport.
However, the most poignant recollection of Simpson may be a slow-paced pursuit on June 17th, 1994, where he threatened to end his own life, as he was documented being chased by a procession of police cars and helicopters on a deserted LA freeway from the backseat of a white Ford Bronco.
Simpson had originally agreed to hand himself over to authorities to face charges related to the murder of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, who had been found fatally stabbed outside her residence in LA mere days before. However, he chose to evade capture, and the high viewership brought about by this vehicle chase was soon surpassed by the global interest attracted by his trial.
The proceedings coincided with the emerging 24-hour news cycle and specialist channels such as Court TV, making it a spectacle for electronic tabloid journalism. Judging the trial was Lance Ito, who was seen as overtly eager to impress, appearing deferential to Simpson’s star-studded legal team, which included prominent lawyers like Melvin Belli, Alan Dershowitz, and Robert Shapiro. However, it was the ebullient local attorney Johnnie Cochran, known for taking on the Los Angeles police department, who took centre stage.
Perhaps equally significant was Robert Kardashian, a personal lawyer and friend of Simpson’s. Following the murders, Simpson took refuge at Kardashian’s residence, who was seen removing some luggage upon the arrival of law enforcement, leading to speculation that it held some proof of Simpson’s guilt. By resuming his law practice and joining Simpson’s defence team, Kardashian dodged having to testify about the content of the bag.
The court proceedings extended beyond eight months, as Simpson’s defence inundated the state attorneys, Marcia Clark and Chris Darden, with an avalanche of discovery processes (large scale exchange of evidence) and numerous contestations against each piece of evidence. Clark’s strategy to zero in on Simpson’s prior domestic abuse accusation against his ex-wife backfired as the case took a turn based on the evidence of an LAPD detective, Mark Fuhrman. Fuhrman’s credibility faced scrutiny after it was discovered that he had falsely denied using racial slurs, which shifted the objective of the trial to contest racism, suggesting that Simpson was targeted due to his race.
The critical point of the trial occurred when Simpson attempted to wear a glove discovered at the crime scene – a crucial piece of evidence. Cochrane capitalised upon Simpson’s failure to fit his hand into the glove, which had been imbued with blood and frequently frozen and defrosted. Reciting “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit”, Cochrane had devised the perfect visual allegory to declare his client’s innocence. Subsequently, it took the jury less than four hours to acquit Simpson.
The verdict captured the attention of not only America but also the global audience. Reactions were largely racially polarised: Caucasians, even those empathising with Simpson, were generally persuaded of his guilt, whereas the African American community was more likely to believe he had been set up.
Within the span of a year, Kardashian began to express his “doubt” about the innocence of his friend, whereas the relatives of Goldman and Brown launched a civil suit for wrongful death. Armed with fresh evidence and a lower standard of proof than the criminal proceedings, Simpson was held responsible and ordered to compensate with $33.5 million.
Born as Orenthal James in San Francisco, he was diagnosed with rickets and utilised leg braces until the age of five, around which time his parents – Eunice (born Durden), a hospital administrator, and Jimmy (James) Lee Simpson, a janitor and chef – had separated. Brought up by his mother in the Potrero Hill housing projects, he associated with a group named the Persian Warriors. His father departed when OJ was only four, and it was not until a spontaneous visit to Jimmy later in his childhood that he realised his father was homosexual. Jimmy, who performed as a drag queen in San Francisco, passed away in 1989.
Commencing his athletic career at Galileo high school, OJ emerged as a prominent figure in football and track events. Despite being bow-legged due to rickets, this trait contributed to his ability to make swift directional changes and swiftly recover from them. Standing at 6ft 2in and weighing 96kg, he had the strength to topple over his opposition and, boasting a 100-yard dash time of 9.4 seconds, he also had the speed to outrun them. Notably, his enrolment at the University of Southern California led to him becoming part of a 4×110-yard relay team which established a world record of 38.6 seconds – a record which still holds due to the 440-yard distance being discontinued shortly thereafter.
Despite his initial struggles when transitioning to professional football with the Buffalo Bills, OJ flourished under the guidance of Lou Saban in 1972. Saban’s coaching philosophy concentrated on power running and provided Simpson with a sturdy young line, coined as the Electric Company as they would “turn on the Juice”. Simpson achieved the status of first-team all-league selection every year from 1972 to 1976, however, he incurred a significant knee injury during the 1977 season and decided to retire from the sport in 1979 in order to pursue acting.
Whilst studying at USC, Simpson made uncredited appearances in television shows and in 1974 made his debut in the film industry with roles in The Klansman and The Towering Inferno. He also found commercial success with endorsement deals, most notably with the Hertz car-rental campaign from 1975. His acting career reached its pinnacle in 1977, with his roles in the premiere episode of the infamous TV miniseries Roots, as well as Capricorn One, a movie about a fabricated Mars landing. However, his next endeavour, Michael Winner’s Firepower (1979), was a commercial failure.
In 1983, he became part of the commentary crew of ABC’s Monday Night Football and later transitioned into a leading role in an early HBO comedy series, 1st & Ten, set within the professional football world, which aired from 1986 to 1990. This introduction to comedy paved the way for him to be cast as the unusually named detective Nordberg in The Naked Gun (1988). In this film and its two continuations, Simpson portayed the slow-witted, comedic sidekick to Leslie Nielsen.
At the point of the murders, Simpson had been featured in the pilot film for a TV series, Frogmen, representing a team of navy seals akin to the A-Team. The film, containing scenes of knife fights, was seized by the LAPD as evidence and remains unseen. In the aftermath of the civil judgement against him, he relocated to Florida where a larger amount of his wealth, including his football pension, could be safeguarded.
In 2001, FBI officers executed a search warrant at his Miami residence, investigating allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering. In 2006, it was disclosed that a book authored by Simpson, entitled If I Did It, was set for publication, alongside a special on Fox TV. Nonetheless, both the book and program were rapidly cancelled, and the book’s rights subsequently awarded to the Goldman family following legal action. The family published the book in 2007, with “If” in the title appearing in exceptionally small print, and added the secondary title Confessions of the Killer.
Simpson sustained some revenue via autograph sales at sports memorabilia events, despite being legally barred from trademarking his name or any nicknames for commercial gain. In September 2007, he and a group of friends stormed a hotel room in Las Vegas, reclaiming from two sports memorabilia dealers items that Simpson claimed were pilfered from him. He was soon arrested and indicted for armed robbery and abduction. In the subsequent year, he was convicted, getting a sentence ranging nine to 33 years in prison, equivalent to one year for every million dollars he owed to the Brown and Goldman families. With news suggesting deteriorating health, Simpson won his parole in 2017.
Simpson tied the knot with Marguerite Whitley in 1967 and they were blessed with three children: two girls named Arnelle and Aaren, and a son called Jason. Tragically, in 1979, Aaren passed away due to drowning in the family’s pool; this was also the year that marked the end of Simpson and Marguerite’s marriage. His second marriage was to Nicole Brown in 1985, and the union resulted in two kids: a daughter, Sydney and a son, Justin. The marriage didn’t last and they parted ways in 1992. Today, Simpson’s legacy lives on through his children and three grandchildren.