O. J. Simpson
A football star whose on-field brilliance was permanently eclipsed by a murder trial that became a national obsession.
1947–2024 (age 77)·American football player and actor·Birthday: July 9·Baby Boomers
Biography
O. J. Simpson’s life is a stark American parable of ascent and calamity. Emerging from San Francisco, he became a football force at USC, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1968. His professional career with the Buffalo Bills was defined by a rare combination of power and grace; in 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, a record that stood for over a decade. This athletic prowess made him a household name, leading to a second career as a sportscaster and a genial presence in films like the 'Naked Gun' series. Everything changed in June 1994. The brutal killings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman led to a low-speed police chase viewed by millions, and a televised trial that fractured the nation along lines of race, celebrity, and justice. His acquittal in 1995 never settled public opinion, and a subsequent civil trial found him liable for the deaths. His later years were marked by legal troubles, culminating in a 2008 armed robbery conviction that sent him to prison for nine years. He died in 2024, a figure whose legacy is irrevocably split between historic athletic achievement and profound cultural infamy.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
O. was born in 1947, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When O. Was Born
The biggest hits of 1947
#1 Movie
The Egg and I
Best Picture
Gentleman's Agreement
O.'s Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1947Born
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1952Started school
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1960Became a teenager
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1963Could drive
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1965Could vote
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Turned 21
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1977Turned 30
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1987Turned 40
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 50
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 60
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 70
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2024Died at 77
AI reshapes industries; Paris Olympics
Gas: $3.31/galHome: $372,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Espresso" — Sabrina CarpenterBest Picture: Anora
Key Achievements
- Became the first NFL player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season (2,003 in 1973).
- Won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 as the most outstanding college football player in the United States.
- Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 in his first year of eligibility.
- Named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1973 after his record-breaking rushing season.
Did You Know?
His full name, Orenthal James Simpson, was given by his aunt, who named him after a French actor she admired.
He starred in a series of humorous Hertz rental car commercials where he famously sprinted through airports.
The white Ford Bronco involved in his 1994 police chase is preserved in a crime museum in Tennessee.
He was a member of the USC track team and ran a leg on the Trojans' 4x110-yard relay team that set a world record in 1967.
“I'm not black, I'm O.J.”
