Capital: | € 3 million |
---|---|
Age: | 72 |
Born: | July 9, 1947 |
Country of origin: | United States of America |
Source of wealth: | Football player, actor |
Last updated: | 2024 |
Short introduction
Orenthal James “OJ” Simpson is a former football player, actor, sports presenter and convicted criminal. Simpson was a college football superstar and a very famous NFL football player. After his sports career, he was moderately successful as an actor and sports moderator. In 1994 he was charged with the murder of his divorced wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her new boyfriend Ronald Goldman. In 1995, he was acquitted in a sensational criminal trial, but was held responsible for the death of both in a civil court. In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison for robbing and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007. He was released from prison shortly after October 1, 2017, and currently lives in the Las Vegas area.
Early life
OJ Simpson was born in San Francisco, California on July 9, 1947. At the age of two, he contracted rickets, causing his feet to become numb and his bow legs to become strong. Up to the age of five he had to wear shoes that were connected to an iron bar almost every day. Simpson’s parents separated in 1952. Together with a brother and two sisters, he grew up with his mother’s largely black borough of Potrero Hill in San Francisco. At the age of 13 he joined a gang called “The Persian Warriors”. Simpson was very promising on the field of Galileo High School, although his poor grades initially prevented his chances of joining a college football team. After overwhelming competition at San Francisco City College, he was inducted as a halfback at the University of Southern California.
Career
OJ Simpson first gained fame as a two-time USC Trojans all-American halfback, set NCAA records, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He joined the Buffalo Bills professional football team in 1969. Simpson, nicknamed “The Juice”, climbed 1,000 yards in five consecutive years (1972-76) and led the National Football League four times in this category. In 1973, he was the first NFL player to overcome more than 2,000 yards in a single season. The running back, with its 23 touchdowns in 1975 and 273 yards against the Detroit Lions in 1976, also set league records, which have since been broken.
Career highlights
After retiring from professional football in 1979, OJ Simpson made a profitable career as a sports reporter and actor. He had already tried acting as an active athlete, particularly in the 1974 film The Klansman, in which he played a man who was charged with murder by the police. He later played a feeble-minded assistant detective in The Naked Cannon (1988) and its sequels and appeared regularly in TV commercials for Hertz car rental. He also worked as a commentator for NBC on Monday Night Football and the NFL. In 1994, when OJ Simpson was at the height of his career and before his criminal trial for the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, his net worth was estimated at $ 11 million.
Famous quotes
The day you take full responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making excuses, is the day you get to the top.
In America you get as much justice as you can afford.
I enjoy the money, the big house, the cars. Which child from the ghetto wouldn’t do that?
Amazing facts
On October 3, 1995, the Simpson jury was not guilty of either murder. It was one of the most watched events in television history. 150 million people tuned in to hear the verdict.
In February 1997, OJ Simpson was held civilly responsible for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was sentenced to pay her families $ 33.5 million in damages. This debt has so far grown to around $ 70 million and he will probably never pay it again. In 2000, he was back on trial after allegedly assaulting another driver in a traffic accident. He was acquitted in October of the following year.
Twenty-five years after his infamous chase after the murder of his ex-wife and boyfriend, OJ Simpson wants to get things right and has registered on Twitter.