Simpson, O. J. (1947-2024), ranks as one of the greatest running backs in football history. He was noted for his speed and his ability to dodge tacklers. Simpson rushed for 11,236 yards during his 11-year professional career with the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers. He led the National Football League (NFL) in rushing in 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976. In 1973, Simpson set an NFL record for most yards gained in a season—2,003. That record was broken in 1984 by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams, who rushed for 2,105 yards. In 1976, Simpson rushed for a record 273 yards in a single game. Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke that record in 1977. The current record is held by Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, who rushed for 296 yards in 2007. Simpson was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Orenthal James Simpson was born on July 9, 1947, in San Francisco. He earned All-America honors playing at the University of Southern California in 1967 and 1968. Also in 1968, Simpson won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s top college football player. He played for Buffalo from 1969 until 1977, when he was traded to San Francisco. Simpson retired in 1979 and became a television sports commentator and an actor.
In 1994, Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson pleaded not guilty and was placed on trial by the state of California later that year. The televised trial received an enormous amount of publicity. In 1995, the jury found Simpson not guilty of the charges against him. However, in a civil trial in 1997, a jury found Simpson responsible for the wrongful deaths of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson and ordered him to pay their families $33.5 million in damages. In an unrelated case, Simpson and a co-defendant were convicted in 2008 of armed robbery, kidnapping, and 10 other charges. Simpson was paroled in 2017 after serving 9 years of a 33-year prison sentence. Simpson died on April 10, 2024.
