Former NFL Star, OJ Simpson, Dead at 76 From Cancer
O.J. Simpson, the once-beloved United States football star who was acquitted of murder in 1995, died on Wednesday. He was 76.
The statement announcing his death was shared by the Simpson family on X. It read: “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.”
O.J. was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer. In May 2023, the former athlete posted on X, “In recent years, really recent years, I, unfortunately, caught cancer. So I had to do the whole chemo thing,” he explained.
His health reportedly took a turn for the worse, though he denied being in a hospice just two months before. “Hey, X world! Hospice? Hos-pice?! You talkin’ about hospice? No, I’m not in any hospice. I don’t know who put that out there,” he wrote online.
In his last public appearance in January, the former celebrated Buffalo Bills running back looked frail and was spotted hobbling around with a cane.
Though Simpson had many NFL accolades—like the national championship and the Heisman trophy—they were always overshadowed by his highly televised trial. Nearly 30 years ago, he was charged with stabbing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her male friend, Ron Goldman, to death outside her Brentwood condominium.
Dubbed the “trial of the century,” it held the nation captive with its twists and turns, drawing a mix of shock, outrage, and celebration when he was ultimately acquitted of the damning double-homicide charges. Merely a week after the verdict, he told the New York Times, “I don’t think most of America believes I did it. I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”
However, Simpson was later found responsible for their deaths in civil court in 1997.
Simpson’s tarnished legacy led to mixed reactions when news of his own demise was revealed, with only the Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter issuing a statement.
It read, “O.J. Simpson was the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards. His on-field contributions will be preserved in the Hall’s archives in Canton, Ohio.”
Gloria Allred, who represented the Brown family during the high-profile trial, offered condolences to the family he left behind but says he “died without penance.”
She tells TMZ, “Simpson’s death reminds us that the legal system even 30 years later is still failing battered women, and that the power of celebrity men to avoid true justice for the harm that they inflict on their wives or significant others is still a major obstacle to the right of women to be free of the gender violence to which they are still subjected.”
The man who represented Goldman’s family, David Cook, shared a similar view. In a statement to the Associated Press, he claims that he will continue pursuing the multi-million dollar civil judgment settlement. “We don’t know what he has, where it is, or who is in control. We will pick up where we are and keep going with it,” he announced.
