The Story of O.J. Simpson

Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson, known to his fans as ‘The Juice’ is a renowned former American football player as well as an actor. Simpson made his mark in the capacity of a football running  back and represented the Buffalo Bills and the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League, playing for the former from 1967-1977 and the latter from 1978-1979, completing a total of 11 seasons in the League. Simpsons holds the distinction of being NFL history’s first ever player to have covered more than 2000 yards in just a single season with a record per-game average of 143.1 yards in a season.

Murder Case and  Prison Sentence

Although Simpson’s professional life was brilliant, the same could not be said about his highly controversial personal life. Simpson came under the scanner in 1994 after being accused of murdering Nicole Brown, his ex-wife along with Ron Goldman, her friend. In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the charge. In another case, in 2005, Simpson was placed under arrest on the charge of kidnapping and armed robbery for which he was found guilty and convicted. Simpson has since been serving a sentence of 33 years of imprisonment. He was  placed at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada without parole for 9 years.

The Nevada Parole Board took into account Simpson’s good behavior in prison and decided to grant him parole on July 20, 2017. His release date is set for October 1, 2017, which completes 9 years in prison.

Early Life and Education

Simpson was born on 9 July 1947 in the city of San Francisco, California chef/ hospital administrator Eunice Durden and bank custodian Jimmy Lee Simpson. As an infant, Simpson was diagnosed with a defect in his legs called ‘rickets’ which meant he had to wear leg braces. After his parents’ separation in 1952, Simpson was raised by his mother. Simpson grew up an angry teenager, joining ‘Persian Warriors’, a street gang and was sent to a youth Guidance Center.

Simpson studied at the Galileo High School, (now Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, San Francisco) playing for the ‘Galileo Lions’. He then attended City College of San Francisco where he played offence and defence, and was part of the winning Junior College All-American Team. This win led to over 50 colleges offering his Sports Scholarships. Simpson chose University of Southern California and played as a running back and broke numerous records.

 

Career Rise

In 1969, Simpson embarked upon a professional career in football. From 1972-76, for a period of five consecutive years, Simpson topped the 1,000 yards rushing. He was acquired by NFL’s ‘Buffalo BiIls’ in the year 1969 and was part of the team until 1977 during which period he won NFL’s ‘rushing title’ four times and also became the first football player in NFL history to cross more than 2000 yards within one season, breaking a previous record set in 1863 by Jim Brown. Simpson started receiving offers to act on films and made his debut in 1970’s with films such as ‘The Klansman’, ‘Capricorn One’ and Towering Inferno’.

Simpson started playing for the ‘San Francisco 49ers’ after being acquired by then in 1978, playing on the team till 1979. By the time Simpson announced his retirement in 1979 owing to severe knee damage, he became NFL’s highest paid played earning $806,688 as salary. With a simultaneous career in acting, Simpson ventured into production and launched ‘Orenthal Productions’. His post retirement films include ‘NFL for NBC’, ‘Back to the Beach’ and ‘The Naked Gun’ trilogy. He also served as a host on Saturday Night Live, Season 3.

O.J Simpson – Wives

From 1976-1979, Simpson was married to Marguerite L. Whitley, The couple became parents to daughters called Arnelle and Aaaren Simpson and a son called Jason Simpson. Their younger daughter Aaren died a few days before she turned two by drowning in their family swimming pool.

Simpson met Nicole Brown, a waitress while he was still legally married to Whitley. The couple soon started dating. After Simpson was officially divorced from Whitley, the he married Brown in the year 1985. The couple had two children together, a daughter called Sydney Brooke Simpson and a son called Justin Ryan Simpson. Brown filed for divorce in 1992 citing irreconcilable differences.

Where are O.J. Simpson’s kids now?

The first wife Whitley bore him three children. The eldest daughter Arnelle (born 1968) is close to her father. She lives in Florida and it is believed that Simpson will live with her, after he is released from prison. The second child, son Jason (born 1970) is a chef working in Atlanta.

Sydney Brooke (born 1985) passed out from Boston University with a sociology degree. She is believed to live a private life close to her home in St. Petersburg. Justin, the youngest son, is a well known real estate agent in South Florida.

 What happened to O. J. Simpson’s first wife Marguerite L. Whitley?

O.J. Simpson’s first wife Marguerite L. Whitley went on to marry a transit supervisor named Rudolph Lewis in 1986. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1991. The following year, she married Anthony Thomas, a businessman working for the furniture industry.  During her time with Simpson, there were  no reported incidents of violence from Whitney. However, there are emerging statements that Whitley had threatened to call police, if he didn’t leave their Brentwood home, post their divorce.

Net Worth

Since his prison sentence, Simpson has an estimated net worth of $250,000. He was worth $10.8 Million before that.

 Movies on O J Simpson

The ‘O J Simpson Story’ is a TV movie produced by Fox Network, released in 1995.

The ‘O.J. Simpson Untold Story’ produced by BBC released in the form of a documentary  in 2000

The Investigation Discovery Channel released two documentaries on O.J. Simpson in 2014 and 2016, called  ‘O J – Trial of the Century’ and ‘O J Simpson Trial – The Real Story’.

The People vs O.J. Simpson – American Crime Story released is a highly acclaimed, award winning crime anthology released on FX Cable (2016) and Netflix  (2017).