Famed football player OJ Simpson died Wednesday, his family announced. He was 76.
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“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement posted to Simpson’s X account Thursday.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.”
In February, a local Las Vegas news station reported that Simpson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy amid rumors that he had entered hospice care; however, the NFL legend denied the rumors.
“Hospice! You talking about hospice?” Simpson questioned with a laugh in a video taken inside his car.
“No, I’m not even in the hospital. I don’t know who put that out there.”
He then jubilantly explained that he was preparing to “a ton of friends” for a Super Bowl LVIII viewing party.
In May 2023, however, Simpson shared in a video posted to his X (formerly Twitter) account that he had been diagnosed with cancer and turned to medical marijuana to ease his side effects.
“I had to do the whole chemo thing … I started smoking a couple of puffs a day, and I only had nausea twice. I’m over the chemo. I only got nauseous on two occasions. … The pot really helped me with the unfortunate side of catching cancer.
“I’m healthy now,”: he continued. “It looks like I beat it. I’m happy about that.”
In 1995, he was acquitted of the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and a friend in a trial that gripped America.
In 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years’ imprisonment on charges of armed robbery. He was released in 2017.
Simpson died of cancer on Wednesday “surrounded by his children and grandchildren”, a family statement read.
In 1994, Simpson was arrested as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
The pair were found stabbed to death outside Brown’s home in Los Angeles, and Simpson was an immediate person of interest in the case.
On the day he was due to turn himself in, Simpson fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate, and led the police on a slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area.
That chase engrossed audiences in both the United States and abroad as it was broadcast live on “rolling” 24-hour news channels that were still in their relative infancy.
In the ensuing court case, dubbed the “trial of the century” by US media, prosecutors argued Simpson had killed Brown in a jealous fury. Evidence included blood, hair and fibre tests linking Simpson to the murders.
The defence argued Simpson was framed by police who were motivated by racism.
In one of the trial’s most memorable moments, prosecutors asked Simpson to wear a pair of blood-stained gloves allegedly found at the scene of the murder, but Simpson struggled to put them on. It led to one of Simpson’s lawyers, Johnnie Cochrane, telling the jury in his closing arguments: “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
The jury ultimately sided with Simpson, who declared he was “absolutely 100% not guilty”. The acquittal proved hugely controversial.
The families of Ms Smith and Mr Goldman did not give up – they pursued a civil case against Simpson in 1997 where a jury found Simpson liable for the two deaths. He was ordered to pay $33.5m (£25.8m) in damages to their families.
In 2006, Simpson sold a book manuscript, titled “If I Did It”, and a prospective TV interview, giving a “hypothetical” account of the murders he had always strenuously denied.
Public objections ended both projects, but Mr Goldman’s family secured the book rights, added material imputing guilt to Simpson and had it published.
Simpson’s final disgrace came in 2008, when he was convicted of armed robbery for breaking into a Las Vegas hotel room with four accomplices, holding two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint and stealing items related to his NFL career.
He was sentenced to 33 years in jail, but was granted parole after serving the minimum of nine years.
Before his legal problems, Simpson was well-liked, known as an athlete, actor and the face of several major companies.
He was a college football star at University of Southern California before being signed to the Buffalo Bills in 1969, where he played until 1977.
He became one of the greatest ball carriers in NFL history. In 1973, he was the first NFL player to “rush” – running to advance the ball for his team – more than 2,000 yards in a season.
He retired in 1979 to concentrate on a career in film and television. His credits include roles in the Towering Inferno, Capricorn One and the Naked Gun series.
Fred Goldman, Ronald’s father, described Simpson’s death on Thursday as “no great loss”.
“The only thing I have to say is it’s just further reminder of Ron being gone all these years,” he told the NBC News network. “It’s no great loss to the world. It’s a further reminder of Ron’s being gone.”
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