The name OJ Simpson strikes various cords every time it surfaces in media circles. He is indeed a man of many talents who, however, has always managed to find himself in the toughest of controversies. As a professional athlete, he had a long and successful career spanning 11 seasons as a running back in the National Football League (NFL). In retirement, he successfully transitioned to broadcasting acting and sports.
All the success that OJ Simpson had as a sports celebrity and broadcaster has been overshadowed by the series of heinous criminal charges he has faced recently. In 1994 he was charged with the murder of his second wife, Nicole Brown, and one of his friends, which led to a highly publicized trial that lasted 11 months.
Miraculously, Simpson managed to get away with the charges. However, less than 10 years later, OJ Simpson has found himself in the midst of new legal strife after leading a group of men in a botched armed robbery operation. Indeed, the life of OJ Simpson has been extremely eventful.
OJ Simpson bio
OJ Simpson was born Orenthal James Simpson on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California. His mother, Eunice (née Durden), was a hospital administrator and his father, Jimmy Lee Simpson, was a professional cook and bank keeper. His parents’ marriage soon fell apart and Simpson was raised by his single mother.
As a teenager, OJ Simpson was part of a street gang called “the Persian Warriors”, which resulted in several run-ins with the law. After several arrests, young Simpson was lucky enough to meet retired baseball star Willie Mays, whose advice inspired him to reshape his life.
Simpson had attended high school at Galileo High School in San Francisco, where he demonstrated his incredible talent in American football. However, after graduating from high school, he didn’t get much attention from college recruiters due to his lackluster high school results. In 1965, he enrolled at City College in San Francisco. He displayed outstanding football skills there, after which he received offers of admission from several other colleges to transfer him to their schools.
OJ Simpson eventually moved to the University of Southern California (USC), where he served as a late running back in 1967 and 1968. Simpson was indeed a star during his college football career. He has won numerous laurels, including the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Prize and the Walter Camp Prize.
In 1969, Simpson was drafted by the American Football League’s Buffalo Bills, signing a contract that was to date the highest ever received by a professional sportsman. Contrary to expectations, Simpson struggled in his early seasons with the Buffalo Bills. His career, however, took a much brighter turn in 1972.
In 1973, he became the first player to reach the coveted 2,000 yard run for which he received the NFL Most Valuable Player award. He maintained his excellent form for the Bills until the 1977 season, when his career was cut short by injury. He then joined the San Francisco 49ers for the 1978 and 1979 seasons after which he finally retired.
In retirement, Simpson maximized his status as a sports star and quickly launched an acting career. He has participated in several television shows and has also acted in many films. In addition to his acting career, Simpson has also doubled as a football commentator.
wife, daughter, son
Retired American football star OJ Simpson is currently single. However, he has married twice in the past. He contracted his first marriage at the age of 19 with Marguerite L. Whitley, who was his childhood sweetheart. Their marriage took place on June 24, 1967 but ended in divorce in March 1979.
As a couple, they had 3 children together: their sons Arnelle (born in 1968) and Jason (born in 1970) and their daughter Aaren (1977-1979). Aaren Simpson tragically died in 1979 after drowning in the family pool.
In 1977, Simpson met another young woman named Nicole Brown who worked at a Beverly Hills club as a waitress. Although still legally married to his wife, he quickly struck up a relationship with Brown. On February 2, 1985, OJ Simpson married Nicole Brown. They had 2 children together; a daughter named Sydney Brooke Simpson (b. 1985) and a son named Justin Ryan Simpson (b. 1988).
The seven-year marriage between OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown was marred by accusations of domestic abuse, however, and eventually resulted in a divorce in 1992. The following year, the couple tried several times to mend their barriers to no avail.
The Simpson-Brown relationship really took off On June 12, 1994, the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were found at Brown’s residence in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Simpson was then named as the prime suspect in the murder of his estranged wife, which marked the start of one of the most publicized criminal trials of the 20th century.
Where is OJ Simpson now?
After 11 months on trial, OJ Simpson was able to clear himself of the murder charges against him. On October 3, 1995, he was acquitted of the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. However, even though his life was saved, Simpson’s career and public image could never recover from the scandal.
In 1997, the family of second murder victim Ron Goldman filed a civil suit against Simpson. He was found responsible for the death of the 2 victims and ordered to pay the sum of 33,500,000 dollars in damages. After that, Simpson ran into financial difficulties and was still unable to meet the demands of civil judgment.
In the early 2000s, Simpson had numerous lawsuits ranging from battery to theft, to drug dealing, to several other crimes. Eventually, he found himself in serious legal trouble again in 2007. On September 13, 2007, he led a group of men in a heist operation that took place at the Palace Station hotel located in Las Vegas. Simpson and his accomplices were arrested just two days after the robbery which marked the start of a new round of legal troubles for the former sports superstar.
On October 3, 2008, the American football Hall of OJ Simpson family was found guilty of twelve counts, including armed robbery and kidnapping. He was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison with the possibility of parole after nine years. On October 1, 2017, OJ Simpson was paroled and released from prison after serving just nine years. He is indeed a free man. Unfortunately, more and more people know him as a criminal rather than a great sportsman.
Is he dead?
OJ Simpson had a turbulent life. At one time he was loved as one of America’s greatest sportsmen and at another he was considered America’s most hated criminal. Indeed, he has tasted the highest and lowest points of life. Either way, OJ Simpson is still very much alive and kicking. His public image may be much different than it might have been, but he’s still alive and kicking.
Height and width
Height: 6’1″ or 185cm
Weight: 91 kg or 200 lbs.
In his athletic youth, OJ Simpson was known for weighing 210 pounds on his 6′ 1″ frame. During his 9 years in prison, the struggling sportsman gained a lot of weight due to dieting and many other factors that brought his body weight to over 300 pounds.
However, when he realized he could be out of prison before the end of 2017, Simpson decided to work on his weight. With the help of a fellow bodybuilder and some tweaks to his diet, the Hall of Famer was able to drastically reduce his weight to 210 pounds, much like before his incarceration.
