O.J. SIMPSON

 

     I never thought in a million years I would be writing a blog about O.J. Simpson. Maybe in the 1970's when he played in the NFL. Certainly not after June 1994 after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. This past week O.J. Simpson died of cancer. When I think about O.J., I look at him as three different people. First, the athlete who played running back for the Buffalo Bills who lead the league in rushing multiple times, second, the actor who was in the movie "Towering Inferno" and "The Naked Gun" or third.  the accused murderer. When I was a kid and you played football with your friends, you would always tell everyone what NFL player you were. If you played quarterback, you were Joe Namath. If you were a defensive lineman, you were Mean Joe Greene. But if you were the running back, you were always O.J. Simpson. Fast forward 20 years later and trust me, nobody wanted to be O.J. Simpson. 

     We all remember where we were when the news interrupted whatever we were watching on TV. I was watching a New York Knicks playoff game. That morning the New York Rangers had a parade celebrating their first Stanley Cup Championship in 54 years. I changed the channel to the regular news to see what was going on only to see a number of police cars chasing a white bronco. It was reported that O.J. 's wife Nicole was murdered and. O.J. was a suspect. America was in shock. I know I was. I didn't know a whole lot about O.J. He did work for NBC doing football games and years before that he was a color commentator on Monday Night Football. It seemed like that Bronco chase lasted for hours. It also seemed like the Trial of this murder lasted 10 years. It was 16 months when the verdict was read telling the world O.J. was not guilty. I am one of thousands of people who knew he was guilty, and he got away with murder. In reality, O.J.'s life would never be the same. He lost his beautiful wife and the trust of not only his children. but his friends, his fans and the world. He lost a lot of money, he had to sell a lot of his sports memorabilia including his Heisman Trophy and many of his awards. It just goes to show you one thing! You can have all the riches in the world, and everything might always go your way, but you can't take any of it with you when you die. I don't think O.J. lived a happy life after his verdict. He may have won that case, but trying to get a job as a color commentator or as an actor was impossible for him. I hope other athletes and actors look at O.J.'s life and get the necessary help they need before they do something they will regret for all eternity!!