O.J. Simpson dies of cancer at 76, family says

On April 11, 2024 at 3:47 PM, the following blog post was published.

In Las Vegas, it was reported that O.J. Simpson, the famous football player and actor who was cleared of the charges of murdering his ex-wife and her friend, but was found responsible in a different court case, has passed away at the age of 76.

On Simpson's verified X account, the family declared that Simpson passed away on Wednesday following his fight against prostate cancer. His lawyer authenticated to TMZ that he departed in Las Vegas.

On April 10th, our dad, Orenthal James Simpson, passed away after fighting with cancer. He had his kids and grandkids around him. During this period of change, his family kindly requests that you abide by their request for discretion and compassion. This request was shared on Simpson's X profile.

Simpson became well-known, wealthy and widely admired due to his success in both football and entertainment. However, his reputation was irrevocably altered following the fatal stabbing of his former spouse, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her acquaintance, Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles during June 1994.

Back on June 12, Brown Simpson and Goldman were discovered dead outside her condo in the Brentwood part of LA. Simpson was under suspicion for the killings, however, instead of turning himself in five days later, he took police on a slow pursuit throughout Los Angeles while being driven by former NFL player Al Cowlings in a white Ford Bronco. Almost 95 million people watched the events unfold on their TVs as it interrupted regular programming, such as the NBA Finals.

During the late 1960s, he was the top tailback for the Trojans football team at the University of Southern California. Despite racial barriers, he was able to rise above and become a celebrated player. In the late 1970s, he appeared in rental car ads where he could be seen hurrying through airport terminals. By the 1980s, he was happily married to a high school homecoming queen who had blonde hair and blue eyes.

He used to tell his friends, "I am not of African descent, I am O.J."

On live television, people were captivated by the "trial of the century" he was involved in. The matter caused discussions on various topics such as racial issues, gender inequality, domestic violence, preferential treatment for famous individuals, and wrongful police behavior.

In 1995, the jury in a criminal court trial acquitted him of murder. However, in a different trial relating to civil matters, another jury found him responsible for the deaths and instructed him to compensate the relatives of Brown and Goldman with a whopping $33.5 million.

Ten years after the California wrongful death ruling, Simpson found himself in another controversial situation. He accompanied five strangers to a small hotel room in Las Vegas where two sports memorabilia dealers were present. Two of Simpson's companions were armed with guns. He was found guilty by a jury of committing armed robbery and various other serious crimes.

When he was 61 years old, he got sent to a prison in northern Nevada and stayed there for nine years. During his time there, he worked as a janitor in the gym. After his release on parole in October 2017, he did not show any regret for his actions. He continued to claim that he only wanted to get back his sports memorabilia and family heirlooms, which were stolen from him after his trial in Los Angeles.

Simpson, who was released on parole in late 2021, stated that he has had a life without any major incidences of disagreement or strife.

People were still very interested in Simpson even after all these years. Some argued that he had received his due punishment in Las Vegas for being found not guilty in Los Angeles. Recently, in 2016, a limited series on FX and a five-part documentary on ESPN were both made about him.

In 1995, after a jury declared Simpson did not kill Brown and Goldman, he spoke to The New York Times and expressed his belief that a majority of Americans did not think he was guilty. He shared that he had received ample letters and telegrams from individuals who supported him.

After a lot of anger from the public, Rupert Murdoch decided to cancel a book that was going to be published by HarperCollins, which is owned by News Corp. The book was supposed to be about Simpson's opinion on how the murders might have happened, and it was going to be called "If I Did It." This happened twelve years after the murders.

The Goldman family is relentlessly pursuing the multimillion-dollar settlement for wrongful death and gained possession of the manuscript. The book was renamed "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer."

Simpson expressed regret that he had to become a part of the group who profit from tragic events, describing the funds received for his book as tainted. The sum of $880,000 was provided to him in advance, transferred via an intermediary.

"It assisted me in becoming debt-free and protecting my property," he stated.

Simpson got arrested in Las Vegas after a period of less than 60 days following the loss of the book rights.

During his 11 year career in the NFL, Simpson mainly played with the Buffalo Bills. They selected him as their top pick in the NFL draft in 1969. His position on the team's offensive line was known as "The Juice," and the unit was referred to as "The Electric Company." Simpson excelled in his role, earning four NFL rushing titles and accruing a total of 11,236 yards throughout his career. He also scored 76 touchdowns, made an appearance in five Pro Bowls, and was selected for five first-team All-Pro squads. His most successful year was 1973, when he became the first running back to run for over 2,000 yards in a season (achieving this feat in just 14 games) and maintained an average of 141.3 yards per game, which remains an NFL record today.

Years later, he reminisced about that season and declared, "I contributed to the game's history. Even if I accomplished nothing else in life, I left my mark."

Certainly, Simpson pursued success in other arenas.

After he was found not guilty in his murder trial, the particular tan suit he wore was kept as evidence and eventually given to the Newseum in Washington, D.C. as a donation to display. Simpson was given the impression the suit would be in his hotel room in Las Vegas, but he discovered it wasn't there.

Orenthal James Simpson was born on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco and was raised in subsidized housing communities.

Following his high school graduation, he registered for classes at City College of San Francisco and attended for one and a half years. Later on, during the spring of 1967 semester, he moved to the University of Southern California.

Simpson tied the knot with Marguerite Whitley on June 24, 1967. The next day, he brought her to Los Angeles so he could commence preparation for his debut season with USC. Thanks to Simpson's contribution, the team managed to win the national championship that year.

Simpson was crowned as the winner of the Heisman Trophy in the year 1968. Coincidentally, he received the esteemed award on the very same day when his first offspring, Arnelle, entered the world.

The man was previously married and had two sons named Jason and Aaren. Unfortunately, when Aaren was a toddler in 1979, he passed away due to a tragic swimming pool accident. This incident occurred during the same year in which the man divorced from his first wife, Whitley.

Simpson and Brown tied the knot back in 1985. Together, they had a couple of kiddos named Justin and Sydney. However, their marriage came to an end in 1992. Fast forward a couple of years later to 1994, and Nicole Brown Simpson was discovered deceased due to homicide.

He expressed to the AP that it was unnecessary to dwell on the tragic day of the double murders. It was a topic he had no desire to bring up again. His family and himself made a conscious decision to not allow negativity to enter their lives and have chosen to only focus on the good things. This has resulted in them creating a special place they call the "no negative zone".

This report was supported by The Associated Press.