O. J. Simpson

Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), nicknamed "the Juice", was an American football player, actor, and media personality. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons—nine with the Buffalo Bills—and is regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time. His success is widely considered to be overshadowed by his two criminal charges for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, and the contentious criminal trial in which he was acquitted on both counts.

Simpson played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the 1968 Heisman Trophy as a senior. He was selected first overall by the Bills in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft. With the Bills, he received five consecutive Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections from 1972 to 1976. He led the league in rushing yards four times, in rushing touchdowns twice, and in points scored in 1975. Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season—earning him 1973's NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award—and he is the only player to do so in a 14-game regular season. He also holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average, at 143.1.

After retiring with the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, Simpson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame. He acted in film and television—notably, in the Naked Gun film franchise—and was also a sportscaster for NBC and ABC, and a celebrity spokesman for various brands like Hertz.

Brown and Goldman were fatally stabbed at Brown's home in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. Simpson was issued an arrest warrant for the murders on June 17, and within hours, he and his friend Al Cowlings had gone missing, as Cowlings drove him away from public view in a white Ford Bronco. Authorities found the car, and then chased it across L.A. County as Simpson threatened suicide with a gun. Aerial telecopter footage of the chase was broadcast live to about 95 million concurrent viewers.