Simpson rose to prominence as a football star, but his image was forever tarnished in wake of his ex-wife's brutal murder.
Orenthal James Simpson, better known as O.J. Simpson, has died. He was 76. The controversial figure, who was accused of double-murder in the mid-1990s but ultimately acquitted in the so-called "Trial of the Century," died on April 10 following a battle with cancer.
Simpson's rise and fall was unlike any other American figure, whose football lore seamlessly manifested him as a pop culture symbol but whose initials alone would later become synonymous with homicidal acts.
His rise to prominence began almost the second he set foot on the field at the University of Southern California, where he led the nation in rushing in his two years there after transferring from City College of San Francisco. He won the Heisman Trophy his senior year -- after finishing as a runner-up the year prior -- and was the Buffalo Bills' No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 AFL-NFL Common Draft.
Simpson would ultimately become one of the NFL's greatest running backs of all time following an 11-year career that ultimately landed him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He'd later entertain the nation with his popular Hertz commercials and appearances in The Naked Gun trilogy and numerous other films, but nothing else in Simpson's life would captivate -- and shock -- the world more than when he fled from a cavalry of California Highway Patrol and LAPD cruisers while in the back seat of his white Ford Bronco, less than a week after his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found murdered at Nicole's home in the ritzy Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.
Behind a legal team dubbed "The Dream Team" and helmed by the late Johnnie Cochran, Simpson was acquitted of the murder charges in his criminal trial, but his legal troubles were far from over.
Here's a look back at Simpson's complicated life.
The Early Years
Simpson was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He was the third of four children of James Lee and Eunice Simpson. According to multiple reports, Simpson suffered from rickets when he was two and needed leg braces until he was five. The leg braces were made by his mother.
Simpson, who had been open about growing up in "a lot of street fights," was named Orenthal but he went by O.J. since birth. It's said that Simpson didn't know Orenthal was his name until an elementary teacher called him Orenthal during roll call. In an interview with Life magazine in 1968, Simpson offered some insight into his name.
"I had an aunt who got to my mother and named me Orenthal and my cousin Ercale," Simpson recalled. "Then she turned around and gave her own kids common names like Stanley, Stewart and Pam. The only thing she ever told me about Orenthal was that it was the name of some French or Italian actor. I don't know, maybe she was loaded or something when she came up with it."
Simpson was a brawler who had a penchant for street violence. He joined a street gang as a teenager, but his life changed when he turned 15, after meeting childhood friend, and later San Francisco Giants legend, Willie Mays.
The College Years
Simpson was a force to be reckoned with as a high school tailback, but his grades were poor and his team reportedly didn't attract top college scouts. Simpson would ultimately enroll at City College of San Francisco, where he amassed 54 touchdowns in his two years there.
Simpson transferred to USC in 1967 and played under legendary football coach John McKay. Simpson's impact was immediate, as he led the Trojans to a Rose Bowl win and a No. 1 ranking in the final poll. His memorable 64-yard scamper in the fourth quarter helped give USC a 21-20 win over crosstown rival UCLA and cemented that game as one of the greatest college football games in the 20th century.
Simpson led the nation in rushing that year (1,543 yards) but he finished as a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, losing out to UCLA quarterback Gary Beban. The following year, Simpson returned with a vengeance, rushing for 1,880 yards and leading the Trojans to a national championship.
Following a stellar two-year campaign at USC, Sport magazine declared Simpson as the greatest running back in the history of college football. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
The Pro Football Years
Simpson was the most coveted college football player entering the 1969 draft. That year, the Bills were the worst team in the NFL and they were in desperate need of a player who would reignite its fading fan base. But before he ever hit the pitch, Simpson and Bills owner Ralph Wilson were at a stalemate, after Simpson demanded what was then the largest contract in professional sports -- a five-year contract worth $650,000. Simpson had even threatened to quit and instead try his hand at acting if his demand wasn't met. Wilson ultimately relented and Simpson signed with the Bills.
But in his first three seasons, Simpson was not the focal point of the offense. It wasn't until heading into the 1972 season when Lou Saban was hired and catered to Simpson's talents, and the move paid off. Simpson would go on to rush for more than 1,000 yards for five straight seasons behind a dominant offensive line affectionately known as "The Electric Company" because they powered "The Juice." Behind that group, Simpson became the first running back ever to rush for more than 2,000 yards in 1973 (he notched 2,003 yards and 12 touchdowns).
That year, Simpson earned the NFL's Most Valuable Player award. To this day, Simpson still holds a number of NFL records, including the most rushing yards per-game average in a single season (143.1). He retired in 1979 following two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
Simpson -- who won four rushing titles and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1970s, the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the NFL 100 All-Time Team -- was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
The Hollywood Years
Prior to his retirement, Simpson had made a name for himself as a deft pitchman, particularly in Hertz commercials, in which he proclaimed, "Nobody does it better than Hertz," before galloping down airport hallways while dressed to the nines and carrying a briefcase and trench coat, all the while flashing a wide grin. That ad campaign was also historic, as Simpson became the first Black man to star in a Hertz commercial.
While Simpson tried acting before he was drafted by the Bills, he finally broke into Hollywood with major roles in big-budget films like 1975's The Towering Inferno. He also starred in the 1977 miniseries, Roots. But perhaps Simpson's best years came when he appeared as Detective Nordberg in the Naked Gun trilogy.
All in all, Simpson appeared in more than two dozen films. He also lent his football acumen in the broadcast booth. Simpson served as ABC's football analyst from 1969 to 1977, and then he made the jump to NBC's booth from 1978 to 1982. He rejoined ABC for its Monday Night Football crew from 1983 to 1986.
The Infamous Chase
On the night of June 12, 1994, Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death at her Brentwood home. According to multiple reports, Simpson and Nicole had attended a music recital for their daughter, though he didn't speak to her and did not sit with her or her family. Afterward, the family (sans Simpson) had dinner at the Italian restaurant Mezzaluna, which closed its doors in 1997. It's been said that Nicole left her glasses there and Goldman, a waiter at the restaurant and an acquaintance of Nicole's, brought the glasses to her Brentwood home.
Nicole suffered horrific injuries to her neck and head, while Ron reportedly suffered 22 stab wounds. Simpson, who had a long history of domestic violence while married to Nicole from 1985 and long after their divorce in 1992, was considered the only suspect in the double murder case.
Despite proclaiming his innocence, Simpson was charged in the double murders. His lawyers -- dubbed "The Dream Team" and comprised of Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, Robert Kardashian and F. Lee Bailey -- arranged for his surrender. He was supposed to turn himself in to the LAPD on June 17, but what transpired instead had nearly 100 million viewers glued to their television sets.
TV networks across the nation broke from regular programming -- including Game 5 of the NBA Finals -- to broadcast live aerial footage showing Simpson evading a cavalry of CHP and LAPD cruisers as he sat in the back of his white Ford Bronco being driven by his longtime confidant, Al Cowlings. The chase brought traffic to a screeching halt, as drivers astonishingly parked their cars on the shoulder of freeways or on the street to get a better view of the bizarre scene unfolding.
Simpson was on the phone with authorities during the 90-minute chase while holding a gun to his head. He insisted to authorities that he needed to go see his mother before ultimately arriving at his home in Brentwood. Hours later, Simpson finally surrendered.
'The Trial of the Century'
Simpson's murder trial garnered wall-to-wall coverage across the nation. The trial lasted nearly a year and it quickly became one of the most widely publicized events in American history. Simpson's "Dream Team" of lawyers went up against lead prosecutor Marcia Clark.
The trial made stars out of those who participated in the trial -- from Kato Kaelin to Cochran, whose persona was parodied by Phil Morris as fictional character Kramer's eccentric lawyer, Jackie Childs, on Seinfeld. The trial also shined a bright spotlight on LAPD misconduct, particularly with Detective Mark Fuhrman, who boasted about police brutality and hurled racist epithets in taped interviews submitted by Simpson's legal team as they sought to discredit him after he testified that he found key pieces of evidence at Simpson's home, including the infamous bloody glove.
But perhaps no moment stunned the nation more than when assistant prosecutor Christopher Darden requested that Simpson try on the bloody glove in front of the jury. As millions on TV saw, Simpson struggled mightily to pull it on.
That moment led to what's become one of the most well-known phrases in jurisprudence history, when Cochran told jurors during closing arguments, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." That moment, too, was parodied in season 7, episode 12 of Seinfeld.
On Oct. 3, 1995, with more than 150 million viewers tuned in, Simpson was found not guilty of both murders.
The famous case was the subject of the Ryan Murphy series, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, starring John Travolta, Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah Paulson, David Schwimmer, Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown.
The Civil Trial
Simpson was nowhere near out of the legal woods just yet. Nicole and Ron's parents sued the former NFL star for wrongful death in a civil lawsuit. On Feb. 5, 1997, a jury unanimously found Simpson liable for Nicole and Ron's deaths.
"We finally have justice for Ron and Nicole," Fred Goldman, Ron's father, said outside the courthouse at the time.
Added the lawyer for Nicole's estate, John Kelly, "We're just happy that a jury collectively looked at the evidence and told the world once and for all that Nicole's and Ron's lives mattered."
Simpson was ordered to pay a whopping $30 million. It's been reported that the families only received a small sum of what he was ordered to pay them.
Simpson Is Sentenced to Prison
In September 2007, Simpson was arrested for felony armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas after he was accused of breaking into a hotel room at the Palace Station and stealing memorabilia at gunpoint. Surveillance video would later show Simpson leading a group of accomplices heading into the hotel.
Simpson later admitted to taking the sports items but claimed the items were stolen from him. He denied breaking into the hotel room. Simpson was later tried on 12 counts of robbery and kidnapping charges, and a Clark County, Nevada, jury found him guilty on all charges more than a year later on Oct. 3, 2008, which was exactly 13 years after he was acquitted of the double murders.
Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after nine years. He spent time behind bars at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada. Simpson requested a new trial but that request was denied.
He's Released From Prison
After he was granted parole in July 2017, Simpson was released from prison on Oct. 1 of that year after having served nearly a decade behind bars.
According to CNN, his focus was going to be on his children. Simpson and his first wife, Marguerite Whitley, shared three kids -- Arnelle, Jason, and Aaren Simpson. Aaren drowned in the family's swimming pool in 1979. Simpson and Nicole shared two children -- Sydney and Justin.
After he was picked up by a friend at the prison facility, Brooke Keast, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections, said she had one last message for Simpson before he left the facility.
"I told him, 'Don't come back,' and he responded, 'I don't intend to,'" Keast said. "He was upbeat, personable and seemed happy to get on with his life."
While he adhered to the terms of his conditions for release, which expired in September 2022, Simpson was not one to lay low while living in Las Vegas. He was a frequent guest at pool parties and often shared his thoughts about a myriad of headlines via videos he posted on social media.
Simpson's Battle With Cancer
In February 2024,Simpson denied he was on hospice in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"I'm not in any hospice, I don't know who put that out there," Simpson said, not acknowledging the cancer rumors. "I guess it's like the Donald say: 'Can't trust the media!'"
"In any event, I'm hosting a ton of friends for the Super Bowl here in Las Vegas. All is well!" he concluded at the time. "Take care and have a good Super Bowl weekend!"
Then, on April 11, Simpson's family announced that he died the day prior after battling cancer. He was 76.
Simpson is survived by four of his five children -- Sydney Brooke Simpson, Jason Simpson, Justin Ryan Simpson, and Arnelle Simpson.
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