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What to know about the 2007 robbery that landed Simpson behind bars
From CNN staff
O.J. Simpson was released fromprisonin 2017 after serving about nine years of a 33-year sentence for a kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas.
In the 2007 robbery, Simpson was part of a group that raided a hotel and casino to steal sports memorabilia from two dealers at gunpoint.
Simpson was convicted on charges including kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The former college and pro football star said at his sentencing that he was trying to reclaim family heirlooms and other personal items that had been stolen from him, and claimed he was unaware his associates were carrying guns.
During his years in prison, Simpson passed the time playing fantasy football, coaching softball, and, at least in the beginning, eating lots of junk food, according to guards and an inmate who were there with him.
Simpson was granted an early parole discharge in 2021, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety.
Simpson spent a lifetime in the limelight, first for his athletic prowess in college and the NFL, then as an actor and pitchman, then as a murder suspect in the 1994 killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
O.J. Simpson's infamous white Bronco chase sparked one of the most-watched events in TV history
From CNN's Doug Criss
On June 17, 1994, O.J. Simpson got into a white Ford Bronco and rode down a Los Angeles interstate, starting one of the most-watched events in TV history.
That was the day Simpson was charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was supposed to have turned himself in to face the charges but didn’t. He was declared a fugitive and a warrant was put out for his arrest.
At about 6:45 p.m., police saw Simpson on the expressway in a white Ford Bronco driven by his best friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings. Simpson was riding in the back, and he reportedly had a gun. And with that, the 60-mile, two-hour, low-speed pursuit through Southern California was on.
A cavalcade of police cars followed in pursuit. TV helicopters swooped in to join the chase. As the Bronco traveled under highway overpasses, crowds of people cheered Simpson on with shouts and signs.
About 95 million people watched the chase that night in total.
Watch CNN's coverage at the time:
Simpson was receiving chemotherapy treatment for prostate cancer, Hall of Fame president says
O.J. Simpson had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and received chemotherapy treatment before he died, Pro Football Hall of Fame PresidentJim Porter said in a statement Thursday, after the former running back's family confirmed his death.
CNN has recently reported on a stark racial disparity in prostate cancer diagnoses, which has spurred health advocates to urgeBlack men to consider getting prostate cancer screenings.
One in six Black men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the advocacy organization ZERO Prostate Cancer.Research from the American Cancer Society shows Black men are more than twice as likely to die from the diseasethan their White counterparts.
CNN's Nicquel Terry Ellis contributed reporting to this post.
Simpson was "not just admired, but beloved" as a household name, says sportscasterBob Costas
From CNN's Alaa Elassar
Veteran sportscasterBob Costas, who became friends with O.J. Simpson after they worked together broadcasting on NBC, said Simpson was not only a Hall of Fame-quality player, but embodied "a quality that's difficult to define; statistics alone don't capture it."
"He was not just admired, but beloved," Costas told CNN. "He was, if not the first, he was the first to do it in a big way, an African American who broke through."
Although he was known as an accomplished athlete and "one of the handful of greatest running backs in the history of college football and then the NFL," Simpson also became a household name for his appearance in movies and a variety of commercials, including a famous 1978 Hertz car rental commercial showing Simpson running through an airport.
"Everything about him, people feel it, more or less," Costas said.
Sports analystChristine Brennan called Simpson an "American icon" who transcended sports.
“What we see now with athletes today, be it Caitlin Clark recently, of course Tom Brady, Serena Williams, LeBron (James), I could go on and on, the first-name basis that we’re on with these athletes, the fact that we absolutely expect to see them on commercials,” Brennan told CNN. “This, to me, really started with O.J. and the Hertz commercials."
Even people who didn't watch sports or knew him as an athlete recognized who Simpson was, she added.
“I knew him as an athlete, but I also knew him as a pitch man, and that crossover appeal into every living room, so even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was," Brennan said.
“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again," she added.
Pro Football Hall of Fame president notes O.J. Simpson's career milestones
Former football player O.J. Simpson's athletic contributions will be preserved in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's archives in Canton, Ohio, following his death Thursday, according to its president, Jim Porter.
Simpson was the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards during an NFL season, according to Porter. It was a rushing mark "many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season," Porter said.
"Hebroke Jim Brown’s single-season rushing record (1,863 yards) that had stood for a decade, and his 143.1 rushing yards per game that season remains the highest mark in league history," according to Porter's statement.
Simpson scored 76 total touchdowns during his professional football career and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, Porter said.
From the infamous bloody glove to accusations of racial bias: How the O.J. Simpson trial unfolded
From CNN's Stephanie Becker
In 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted in the brutal killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Here's what happened during the trial:
Simpson pleaded “100% not guilty” and assembled a “dream team” of famous local and national lawyers, including civil rights attorney Johnnie Cochran, star defense attorneys F. Lee Bailey and Alan Dershowitz, and DNA expert Barry Scheck. Also on the team was Simpson’s friend Robert Kardashian, father of the Kardashian sisters.
Lead prosecutors Marcia Clark and Chris Darden focused on the timeline, domestic abuse and the DNA evidence found on the bloody glove discovered at the crime scene and another one at O.J. Simpson’s property.
But the “dream team” raised doubts about the police handling of the evidence and accused one of the lead detectives, Mark Fuhrman, of racial bias. Although Simpson never testified, among the most riveting moments was when prosecutor Darden asked Simpson to put on the infamous gloves – one of which police said was found at the murder scene, the other at Simpson’s property.
Simpson struggled to do so in front of the jurors, making a show of how the gloves didn’t fit. In his summation, Cochran uttered the now famous line, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”
The case became a cable news sensation and a nationwide obsession, as tens of millions of viewers tuned in at home and at work.
The trial lasted just over eight months, from opening statements to the verdict.
On October 3, 1995, as the “not guilty to all counts” verdict was read, Cochran turned and yelled, “Yes!”
Kardashian looked stunned. Simpson finally broke into a smile, sighed deeply and mouthed “thank you, thank you” to the jury.
O.J. Simpson has died at age 76, according to his family
From CNN's Dakin AndoneandRay Sanchez
O.J. Simpson, the former NFL star and broadcaster whose athletic achievements and fame were eclipsed by his 1995 trial in the brutal killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, has died of cancer, his family announced Thursday on X. He was 76.
A post from the “Simpson Family” on Simpson’s verified X account Thursday morning said: “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,” the statement continues.
