O. J. Simpson

Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional <a href="/facts/American_football/TGzJa1nW">football</a> player, actor, and media personality who played in the <a href="/facts/National_Football_League/cBH0hxRV">National Football League</a> (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the <a href="/facts/Buffalo_Bills/AEmAPcBQ">Buffalo Bills</a>. Simpson is regarded as one of the greatest <a href="/facts/Running_back/meHXyVWb">running backs</a> of all time, but his success was overshadowed by <a href="/facts/Murder_trial_of_O._J._Simpson/1H5Ffc4l">his criminal trial and controversial acquittal</a> for <a href="/facts/Murder_of_Nicole_Brown_Simpson_and_Ronald_Goldman/yo6ykgFV">the murders</a> of his former wife <a href="/facts/Nicole_Brown/P1uxIFXr">Nicole Brown</a> and her friend <a href="/facts/Ron_Goldman/CxCqJw8w">Ron Goldman</a> in 1994.
Simpson played <a href="/facts/College_football/sQHYX0Ct">college football</a> for the <a href="/facts/USC_Trojans_football/VYfIk4Qk">USC Trojans</a>, where he won the <a href="/facts/Heisman_Trophy/X7CToY36">Heisman Trophy</a> as a senior, and was selected <a href="/facts/List_of_first_overall_NFL_draft_picks/7AW151Kg">first overall</a> by the Bills in the <a href="/facts/1969_NFL%2fAFL_draft/0lVwqLWy">1969 NFL/AFL draft</a>. During his nine seasons with the Bills, he received five consecutive <a href="/facts/Pro_Bowl/z5pj7IDc">Pro Bowl</a> and first-team <a href="/facts/All-Pro/zmk4NdR1">All-Pro</a> selections from 1972 to 1976. He also led the league in <a href="/facts/Rushing_yards/tbDKDDuR">rushing yards</a> four times, in rushing <a href="/facts/Touchdown/s7TwUXtz">touchdowns</a> twice, and in points scored in 1975. Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than <a href="/facts/2%2c000-yard_club/8HyFMuzF">2,000 yards</a> in a season, earning him <a href="/facts/NFL_Most_Valuable_Player/BRWys0Ff">NFL Most Valuable Player</a> (MVP), and is the only NFL player to do so in a 14-game <a href="/facts/NFL_regular_season/fEskS3Pr">regular season</a>. He holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average at 143.1. He acquired the nickname "Juice" as a play on "OJ", a common abbreviation for orange juice. After retiring with the <a href="/facts/San_Francisco_49ers/k84dwG63">San Francisco 49ers</a> in 1979, he acted in film and television, became a <a href="/facts/Sportscaster/ULN8RnUC">sportscaster</a>, and was a spokesman for a wide variety of products and companies, notably <a href="/facts/Hertz_Global_Holdings/NoX6CGpu">Hertz</a>. He was inducted to the <a href="/facts/College_Football_Hall_of_Fame/YdRWTlC8">College Football Hall of Fame</a> in 1983 and the <a href="/facts/Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame/RsETBMlT">Pro Football Hall of Fame</a> in 1985.
In June 1994, Simpson was charged with murdering Brown and Goldman after they were stabbed to death in Los Angeles. His eight-month murder trial received international publicity and exacerbated racial divisions in the U.S., culminating with his acquittal in October 1995. Three years later, he was found liable for the murders in <a href="/facts/O._J._Simpson_civil_case/1H5Ffc4l">a civil suit</a> from the victims' families but paid little of the $33.5 million judgment. In 2007, <a href="/facts/O._J._Simpson_robbery_case/r44xtnIj">Simpson was arrested</a> in Las Vegas, Nevada, and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment with a <a href="/facts/Mandatory_sentencing/QD5SHG7g">minimum</a> of nine years without parole. Simpson served his sentence at the <a href="/facts/Lovelock_Correctional_Center/135H3MpB">Lovelock Correctional Center</a> in rural Nevada until being paroled and released in 2017. For the remainder of his life, he resided in Florida and Nevada.

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O. J. Simpson