Apr 11, 2024 - Sports
In photos: O.J. Simpson's life
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O.J. Simpson in a Los Angeles courtroom in December 1994. Photo: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
O.J. Simpson, the infamous former professional football player, died from cancer at the age of 76 on Thursday.
The big picture: Simpson's legacy as football hall of famer and media personality was disgraced after the notorious knife slayings of his ex-wife and her friend and his kidnapping and armed robbery conviction in the 2000s.
Timeline:
- 1946: Simpson was born in San Francisco.
- 1965: He graduated from Galileo High School as a star star running back, defensive back and track athlete.
- 1966: Simpson was named a junior college All-American as a running back at the City College of San Francisco.
- 1967: He transferred to the University of Southern California, where he led the nation in rushing yards and helped USC win the national title.
- 1968: He won the Heisman by a record margin.
- 1969: He was the first overall pick in the 1969 National Football League (NFL) draft, being chosen by the Buffalo Bills.
- 1973: Simpson became the first running back in NFL to rush for more than 2,000 yards and was voted MVP.
- 1975: He ran for a career-high 2,243 yards and scored a then single-season record of 23 touchdowns.
- 1979: Simpson retired from the NFL, finishing his career with 11,236 rushing yards, 2,142 receiving yards and 990 kick return yards, 76 touchdowns and six Pro Bowl appearances but never won or played in a Super Bowl.
- 1985: Simpson was inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1985.
- That same year, Simpson married Nicole Brown, who he met in 1977 while married to his first wife, Marguerite Whitley Simpson.
- 1988: Simpson stars in the crime comedy film "The Naked Gun" as a police officer. Throughout his life, Simpson would star or be featured in numerous movies and advertisements.
- 1989: Simpson is sentenced to two years probation, 120 hours of community service, counseling sessions and a $470 fine for beating Nicole Brown so badly she required treatment at a hospital.
- 1992: He and Nicole Brown Simpson divorced.
- June 12, 1994: Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, one of her friends, were both found stabbed to death outside of Brown's apartment. Police later filed charges against Simpson and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
- June 17, 1994: Police charged Simpson with two counts of murder but he did not turn himself in.
- Simpson led police on a car chase on a Los Angeles interstate in a white Ford Bronco driven by his friend. News coverage of the chase drew millions of viewers, in part because it interrupted the NBA finals.
- Jan. 24, 1995: The criminal trial against Simpson begins, with live video coverage of it being streamed into the homes of millions of Americans. It would last over 250 days in total.
- Oct. 3, 1995: The jury finds Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder.
- 1997: A civil jury finds Simpson liable of the Brown and Goldman's deaths as part of a civil suit from the victims' families. The jury ordered Simpson to pay the families several millions of dollars in damages.
- 2008: Simpson is sentenced to up to 33 years in prison after being found guilty of assault, kidnapping and armed robbery over his 2007 attempt to steal sports memorabilia from two dealers in a Las Vegas hotel.
- 2017: After serving nine years, Simpson is released from Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada.
