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Soccer star and actor O.J. Simpson, whose life took a shocking turn when he was accused of stabbing to death his ex-wife and the man she was with on the night of the murder, announced Wednesday that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died at the age of 76. According to a social media post attributed to the Simpson family.
The post read: “Our father, Orenthal James Simpson, passed away after a battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family has been given privacy and grace. We ask that you respect their wishes.”
Simpson was acquitted of two counts of murder in a televised trial that shocked America and sharply divided the country along racial lines. However, a civil trial jury found Simpson responsible for the double murder, and he was later sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the botched armed robbery. He was granted parole in 2017.
It completes a spectacular fall for the once-famous running back who starred at the University of Southern California and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Buffalo Bills and at times looked unstoppable in the NFL.
He parlayed his success in sports in Hollywood into a successful career as an actor and television salesman. But everything came crashing down with a murder charge that transfixed America.
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OJ was charged with murder.trial
A low-speed car chase that aired on television in 1994 followed Simpson in a white Ford Bronco as police chased him as Los Angeles residents cheered from a freeway overpass.
In 1995, there was the so-called “Trial of the Century,” which featured a number of powerful figures, including Johnnie Cochran, one of Simpson’s defense attorneys. He turned a bloody glove found at the crime scene into one of the trial’s most memorable moments. As Simpson struggled to put his hand inside the glove in court, Cochran told jurors: “If it doesn’t fit, you have to acquit.”
Simpson’s acquittal was celebrated by those who point to the historically unjust treatment of black people by the U.S. justice system, which does not allow people of any race to afford expensive legal fees. There were voices of dismay from those who claimed that the government was giving preferential treatment to certain people.
O.J. Simpson’s childhood as a football star
Orensal James Simpson was born in San Francisco on July 9, 1947, the son of Eunice Simpson and Jimmie Lee Simpson, and was known as “OJ” from birth.
At Galileo High School in San Francisco, Simpson emerged as a football star.
Plagued by poor grades, he enrolled at City College of San Francisco in 1965, where he continued to excel on the football field. He was selected to the All-American Junior College team and was a highly coveted prospect by Division I colleges.
Simpson chose to transfer to the University of Southern California, where he led the nation in the 1967 and 1968 seasons while playing for coach John McKay. He was runner-up in the Heisman Trophy in his junior year before winning the award as a senior.
“O.J. Simpson was the first player to surpass 2,000 yards, a rushing mark that many thought would be unachievable in a 14-game season,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement Thursday. He was a player.” “His contributions on the field will be preserved in the Hall’s archives in Canton, Ohio.”
OJ’s personal life
Simpson married his first wife Margaret in 1967 and had three children, one of whom drowned in his family pool at the age of two in 1979, the year the couple divorced.
Simpson met his future wife, Nicole Brown, when she was a 17-year-old waitress and still married to Margaret. Simpson and Brown married in 1985 and had two children. Later, an incident occurred in which the girlfriend’s man hit her, and she reported it to the police. Simpson pleaded no contest to her spousal abuse charges in 1989.
OJ’s career as a broadcaster and actor
The end of Simpson’s career as a football player marked the beginning of his continued celebrity as a broadcaster and actor. He also began his career as an actor while working as a commentator on NBC’s “Monday Night Football” and his NFL.
Simpson, perhaps best known for his role in the “Naked Gun” film series, appeared in about a dozen films. According to IMDb, he also appeared in about 24 television projects, landing his first role in 1968’s Dragnet and 2018’s One of his last appearances, Who. He appeared on “Is America”.
Simpson had been largely shunned from the entertainment industry since he was accused of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman on June 12, 1994, outside Nicole’s home in Los Angeles.
Contributed by: Reuters
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