All about O. J. Simpson

Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson (born July 9, 1947), also known by his nickname, The Juice, is a retired American football player, actor, spokesman and broadcaster, who earned infamy for having been tried for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994. He originally attained stardom as a running back at the collegiate and professional levels, and was the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Simpson’s rushing mark was set during the 1973 season.

Simpson was acquitted of the murder of Simpson and Goldman after a lengthy, highly publicized criminal trial. In 1997, a default judgment against Simpson was awarded for their wrongful deaths in civil court by a jury, but to date he has paid little of the $33.5 million judgment. He gained further notoriety in late 2006 when he wrote a book titled If I Did It. The book, which purports to be a first-person fictional account of the murder had he actually committed it, was withdrawn by the publisher just before its release. The book was later released by the Goldman family and the title of the book was expanded to If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer

In September 2007, Simpson faced more legal troubles as he was arrested and subsequently charged with numerous felonies, including robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon (which carries possible life sentence), coercion with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit a crime. He was found guilty of all charges on October 3, 2008.

Simpson was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eunice (née Durden; October 23, 1921 – San Francisco, California, November 9, 2001), a hospital administrator, and Jimmy Lee Simpson (Arkansas, January 29, 1920 – San Francisco, California, June 9, 1986), a chef and bank custodian. Simpson’s maternal grandparents were from Louisiana. His aunt gave him the name Orenthal, which supposedly was the name of a French actor she liked. His parents were separated in 1952. Simpson has one brother, Melvin Leon “Truman” Simpson, and two sisters, Shirley Simpson-Baker and Carmelita Simpson-Durio. As a child, Simpson contracted rickets and wore braces on his legs until the age of five.

At Galileo High School in San Francisco, Simpson played for the school football team, the Galileo Lions. From 1965 to 1966, Simpson was a student at City College of San Francisco, a member of the California Community Colleges system. He played both offense (running back) and defense (defensive back) and was named to the Junior College All American team as a running back.
Simpson was drafted by the AFL’s Buffalo Bills, who got first pick in the 1969 draft after finishing 1-12-1 in 1968. Early in his NFL career, Simpson struggled on poor Buffalo teams, averaging only 622 yards per season for his first three.

He first rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1972, gaining a total of 1,251. In 1973, Simpson rushed for a then-record 2,003 yards, becoming the first player ever to pass the 2,000-yard mark, and scored 12 touchdowns. Simpson gained more than 1,000 rushing yards for each of his next three seasons.