O.J. Simpson: A College Football Legacy
Orenthal James "O.J." Simpson, nicknamed "The Juice," was a prominent figure in American sports, transitioning from a celebrated college football star to a controversial personality. Born in San Francisco in July 1947, Simpson's athletic prowess was evident early in his life, excelling in football and track and field at Galileo High School. His journey led him to become one of the most dynamic running backs in college football and NFL history, leaving an indelible mark on the sport. Simpson died Wednesday of prostate cancer at the age of 76, according to a post on social media attributed to the Simpson family.
Early Years and Junior College Success
Simpson's path to football stardom began in the Russian Hill section of San Francisco, where he honed his skills at Galileo High School. Despite his athletic talents, his academic performance initially hindered his recruitment by major college programs. Consequently, he enrolled at City College of San Francisco in 1965.
At City College, Simpson showcased his versatility, playing both running back and defensive back. However, his exceptional ability as a running back quickly became apparent. He established himself as the all-time junior college rushing leader with 2,552 yards and 54 touchdowns. His outstanding performance earned him Junior College All-American honors as a running back in 1966, setting the stage for his transfer to the University of Southern California (USC).
USC Trojans: A Two-Sport Star
In 1967, Simpson enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, a team he had admired as a young football fan. Immediately, Simpson became a two-sport star, excelling in football and track and field. Simpson's impact at USC was immediate and profound.
Track and Field Achievements
The spring of his first year at USC, Simpson recorded a sixth-place finish at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 9.53 seconds. Simpson also was part of a relay team in the 4 x 110 that set a then-world record time of 38.6 seconds. Simpson ran the third leg of the relay, and helped USC to an overall NCAA championship that year. Before playing football at USC, he ran the third leg of a sprint relay quartet that broke the world record in the 4 × 110-yard relay at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah on June 17, 1967.
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1967 Season: National Championship and Heisman Runner-Up
Simpson's arrival at USC coincided with a period of great success for the Trojans football program. In their 1967 game against their crosstown rival UCLA, USC was down by six points in the fourth quarter with under 11 minutes remaining. On their own 36, USC backup quarterback Toby Page called an audible on third and seven. Simpson's 64-yard touchdown run tied the score, and the extra point provided a 21-20 lead, which was the final score. This was the biggest play in what is regarded as one of the greatest football games of the 20th century, and pictures of the play were published in many national magazines. Another dramatic touchdown in the same game is the subject of the Arnold Friberg oil painting, O.J. Simpson Breaks for Daylight. Simpson also won the Walter Camp Award in 1967 and was a two-time unanimous All-American. USC would go on to win the national title for that year.
That fall, Simpson led the nation with 1,543 rushing yards, while adding 13 touchdowns. USC went 10-1 en route to winning the national title that year while Simpson finished second in Heisman voting. Despite his remarkable performance, he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting to UCLA's Gary Beban. The 1967 season was also the year Simpson won 22 individual citations. He led the country in rushing with 1451 yards on 266 carries and 11 touchdowns, and also won Back of the Year honors from United Press International, as all selectors gave him first team All-America recognition.
1968 Season: Heisman Trophy Winner
As a senior in 1968, Simpson rushed for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season, earning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award. He held the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory for 51 years, defeating runner-up Leroy Keyes by 1,750 points. In the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, No. The 1968 campaign proved even more fruitful. However, the Trojans failed to repeat as national champions, even with their All-World back powering the offense.
He would go on to win the award the following season when he not only led the country with 1,709 rushing yards, but also set an NCAA single-season record. He established a new mark for carries in a single season (334) and added 22 rushing touchdowns. Simpson won the Heisman by a then-record 1,750 points, topped only by LSU quarterback Joe Burrow's margin of 1,846 in 2019. Simpson still holds the Heisman record for most first-place votes, with 855. He was a unanimous All-American.
In his 22-game career, Simpson gained 3,423 yards and scored 36 touchdowns playing for teams that went a combined 19-2-1 while winning a national title and two Pac-8 crowns. He also threw three touchdown passes as a Trojan.
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Simpson left Southern California a two-time unanimous All-American who tied or broke 19 NCAA, conference, and USC football records.
NFL Career: From Buffalo to San Francisco
Simpson's college success translated into a highly anticipated NFL career. The first selection in the 1969 NFL/AFL draft was held by the AFL's Buffalo Bills, after finishing 1-12-1 in 1968. They took Simpson, but he demanded the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years (equivalent to $4.3 million in 2024). This led to a standoff with Bills' owner, Ralph Wilson, as Simpson threatened to become an actor and skip professional football. After the Bills turned their card in, he demanded a five-year, $650,000 deal - the largest contract in professional sports history. Owner Ralph Wilson balked at the idea, but when Simpson threatened to become an actor and leave football behind, Wilson caved and agreed to pay the RB.
Buffalo Bills: Record-Breaking Seasons
Simpson entered professional football with high expectations, but struggled in his first three years, averaging only 622 yards per season. Bills coach John Rauch, not wanting to build an offense around one running back, assigned Simpson to do blocking and receiving duties at the expense of running the ball. In 1971, Rauch resigned as head coach, and the Bills brought in Harvey Johnson. Despite Johnson devising a new offense for Simpson, Simpson was still ineffective that year.
In 1972, Simpson rushed for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career, gaining a league-leading total of 1,251 yards. In 1973, Simpson became the first player to break the highly coveted 2,000-yard rushing mark, with 2,003 total rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He broke the mark during the last game of the season against the New York Jets with a seven-yard rush. Simpson gained over 1,000 rushing yards in each of the next three seasons. He did not lead the league in rushing in 1974, but did cross the 1,000-yard barrier despite a knee injury. In game 11 of 1974, he passed Ken Willard as the rushing leader among active players, a position he maintained until his retirement more than five seasons later. Simpson also made his first and only playoff appearance during the 1974 season. In a divisional game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Simpson rushed for 49 yards on 15 attempts and caught a touchdown pass, but the Bills lost the game 32-14. Simpson won the rushing title again in 1975, rushing for 1,817 yards and 16 touchdowns. Simpson again led the league in rushing in 1976, rushing for 1,503 yards and eight touchdowns. He had the best game of his career during that season's Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions on November 25. In that game, Simpson rushed for a then-record 273 yards on 29 attempts and scored two touchdowns. A low light that season came during a game against the New England Patriots a few weeks earlier when defensive end Mel Lunsford and several other Patriots defenders stuffed the superstar running back for no gain. Still, as Simpson tried to continue driving forward, Lunsford bodyslammed him to the ground. Simpson got up and punched Lunsford, which prompted Lunsford to swing back. Bills offensive lineman Reggie McKenzie then jumped on Lunsford's back. Still, Lunsford bent down and flung McKenzie over his head. He went back to swinging at Simpson before a melee of the two teams stopped the fight and ended up in a pile on the field. Lunsford and Simpson were ejected from the game as the Patriots' solid defense persisted, with New England winning 20-10 to finish the 1976 season 11-3.
San Francisco 49ers: Final Seasons
On March 28, 1978, prior to the 1978 season (the last year on his three-year contract that paid him $733,000), the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown San Francisco 49ers for five draft picks (2nd and 3rd round draft pick for 1978, a 1st round and 4th round pick for 1979, and a 2nd round pick for 1980); Simpson had tried to get the Bills to engineer a trade to the Los Angeles Rams prior to 1976 because of him and his wife's preference for the West Coast. The team previously had Delvin Williams and Wilbur Jackson in the backfield. Simpson played in San Francisco for two seasons, rushing for 1,053 yards and four touchdowns. Physical problems with his knees influenced him to retire from football. For his last home game at Candlestick Park, the 49ers held an "O.J.
Read also: Simpson College Landmark
Legacy and Achievements
O.J. Simpson's impact on college football is undeniable. His exceptional speed, agility, and determination made him a formidable running back and a two-sport star.
Simpson gained 11,236 rushing yards, placing him 2nd on the NFL's all-time rushing list when he retired; he now stands at 22nd. He was named NFL Player of the Year in 1973, and played in six Pro Bowls. He was the only player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a 14-game season, and the only player to rush for over 200 yards in six different games in his career. Simpson acquired the nickname "Juice" as a play on "O.J.", a common abbreviation for orange juice. Simpson played in only one playoff game during his 11-season Hall of Fame career: a 1974 Divisional Round game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In 1985, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame enshrined Simpson in their Class of 1985. Simpson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, in his first year of eligibility.
Beyond his athletic achievements, Simpson's charisma and marketability led to opportunities in acting, sports commentary, and endorsements.
Post-Football Career
In 1975, Simpson competed on the television series Superstars, and was the season's winner. Before Simpson's murder trial, sportswriter Ralph Wiley wrote in 2002, white people considered Simpson a "unifying symbol of all races". History professor Lou Moore said that this made Simpson the first Black athlete to be "put on". In 1975, People magazine described Simpson as "the first [Black] athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar". Simpson avoided starring in blaxploitation films, choosing third or fourth lead roles while studying experienced stars like Lee Marvin and Richard Burton. His Hertz commercials from 1975 benefited Simpson's acting career, but he sometimes intentionally chose non-positive roles; "I've got to tear down that picture of O.J.
In 1987, Simpson also made a cameo in the comedy Back to the Beach. He played Det. Simpson starred in the un-televised two-hour-long film pilot for Frogmen, an A-Team-like adventure series that Warner Bros. Television completed in 1994, a few months before the two murders he was accused of. Simpson played the leader of a group of former United States Navy SEALs named John "Bullfrog" Burke who operated out of a surf shop in Malibu. NBC had not yet decided whether to order the series when Simpson's arrest canceled the project. NBC executive Preston Beckman collected each copy of Frogmen to ensure that no copy leaked to the media. While searching his home, the police obtained a videotaped copy of the pilot as well as the script and dailies. NBC executive Warren Littlefield said in July 1994 that the network would probably never air the pilot if Simpson were convicted. Most pilots that are two hours long are aired as TV movies whether or not they are ordered as series. Because-as the Los Angeles Times later reported-"the appetite for all things O.J. appeared insatiable" during the trial, Warner Bros. and NBC estimated that a gigantic, Super Bowl-like television audience would have watched the Frogmen film. In 2000, co-star Evan Handler - who would later go on to portray "Dream Team" member Alan Dershowitz in The People v. O. J.
In 2006, Simpson starred in his own improv-based hidden-camera prank TV show, Juiced. Typical of the genre, Simpson would play a prank on everyday people while secretly filming them. At the end of each prank, he would shout, "You've been Juiced!" Each episode opened with half-dressed models dancing around Simpson, who is dressed as a pimp and sings his own rap song. In one episode, Simpson is at a used car lot in Las Vegas, where he attempts to sell a white Ford Bronco (the SUV model that became infamous during his 1994 police chase). A bullet hole in the front of the SUV is circled with his autograph, and he pitches it to a prospective buyer by saying that if they "ever get into some trouble and have to get away, it has escapability." In another sketch, Simpson pretends to be having an affair with another man's girlfriend. Later, he transforms into an old white man whose dying wish is to call a game of bingo.
Simpson worked as an NFL analyst on NBC from 1978 to 1982. He joined ABC's Monday Night Football crew in 1983, becoming the first black announcer on the network's No. 1 NFL broadcast team. For Super Bowl XIX during the 1984 season, ABC moved Simpson to its pregame show, replacing him in the broadcast booth with active player Joe Theismann, who had played in the previous two Super Bowls. Simpson continued his Monday Night Football announcing duties in 1985 before being dropped after the season. In 1989, he rejoined NBC to replace Ahmad Rashad as an analyst on their NFL Live!
Chuck Barnes helped Simpson form business relationships with Chevrolet and ABC early in his football career. Beginning in 1975, he appeared in advertisements with the Hertz rental car company. Commercials depicted Simpson running through airports (embodying speed), as others shouted to him the Hertz slogan "Go, O.J., Go!". He was the first Black man to be hired for a major corporate national advertising campaign, a unique decision for a conservative, dominant corporation to fend off its rival, No. 2 Avis. Besides helping his acting career, Simpson estimated that the very successful "superstar in rent-a-car" campaign raised the recognition rate among people he met from 30% to 90%. Hertz's annual profit increased by 50% to $42.2 million within the first year, brand awareness increased by more than 40%, and 97% of viewers understood that the commercials advertised Hertz, avoiding the common "vampire video" problem of viewers remembering an ad, but not which brand it promotes. Simpson was so important to the company that CEO Frank Olson personally negotiated his contract, and Hertz used him for an unusually long time for a celebrity endorser. Simpson used his amiable persona, good looks, and charisma in many endorsement deals. Advertising Age in 1977 named Simpson the magazine's Star Presenter of the Year; by 1984, consumer research found that he was the most popular athlete endorser. A 1990s MCI Communications commercial starring Eunice Simpson satirized her son's work. Other products Simpson endorsed included Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham, TreeSweet orange juice, Calistoga Water Company's line of Napa Naturals soft drinks, and Dingo cowboy boots. As president and CEO of O. J. Simpson Enterprises, he owned hotels and restaurants.
Personal Life
On June 24, 1967, Simpson married Marguerite L. Whitley. Together, they had three children: Arnelle L. Simpson (b. 1968), Jason Lamar Simpson (b. 1970), and Aaren Lashone Simpson (1977-1979). Marguerite declined to testify at the trial on behalf of Simpson. According to LAPD Officer Terry Schauer and his partner Richard Deandra, when she and Simpson were married, they got a call from Marg…
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