The Trials & Tribulations Of Being A Celebrity
DescriptionAn essay about O.J. Simpson and his extreme fall from grace in the public's eye.
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ImageLA Times
If you asked someone in the 70s who O.J. Simpson was, they would say, "The great running back on the Bills!" If someone was asked that in the 80s, he would be, "The guy on Monday Night Football!" Now, everyone knows him for one thing: the famous football star who (allegedly) murder of his ex-wife and her friend. Simpson was a top-rated, well-known player, but due to a tragic flaw deep within, his downfall quickly played out. O.J. Simpson is a tragic hero because most people looked up to him at one point, but all of that changed due to a famous controversy.Given the name Orenthal James Simpson, O.J. was born on July 9, 1947. He grew up in a low-income neighborhood called Potrero Hill in San Francisco, California. His career in athletics was astonishing because it pointed to anything but that. After he was born, O.J. developed a rare disease called rickets caused by a vitamin D deficiency. Due to this, he was left bowlegged and pigeon-toed. But, because they were struggling economically, his mother could not afford the surgery to correct it. When he was four, his father left his mother, forcing her to take care of the family by herself. This left a huge impact on his life. Although he was physically challenged, he grew up to be one of the best and most successful players of his time. He stayed with his best friend, Al Cowlings, through all the highs and lows of his life. They did almost everything together during their early years, he and Al Cowlings joining a local gang called the Persian Warriors. When O.J. got caught stealing, a local youth group leader asked San Francisco Giants player Willie Mays to meet with him. He later recalls that that was the first time he realized he wanted to become a professional football player. Both Al and O.J. turned to football to help bring them on the right path, realizing they could never fulfil their dreams on their current path. Unfortunately, O.J. did not have the grades to get into a reputable school, so he went to City College of San Francisco and played football. Simpson was having a very successful time at college. His amazing stats were quickly gaining notice from other schools, averaging 9.3 yards per carry and scoring 54 touchdowns. After his sophomore year, 50 colleges tried to recruit him. Out of the 50, he chose the University of Southern California. He continued to climb up and married his high school sweetheart, Marguerite Whitley. During his time, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. The following year, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills as their first-round draft pick. He stayed as the Bills running back from 1969 to 1977. By this time he was the "it" guy of the NFL.O.J. Simpson shattered all records for most yards in a single season, his success and popularity continuing to rise. He began an acting career in 1974, taking a role in The Towering Inferno. Quickly Simpson was also in commercials, one of his most famous being a spokesperson for Hertz rental car company. After his retirement in 1979, he became a commentator for Monday Night Football, remaining as one of the most well known people in sports. Marguerite Thomas and O.J., who met in high school, got married in 1967, bu divorced by '79. They had three children: Arnelle, Jason, and Aaren. After the split, 2-year-old Aaren died in a tragic swimming pool accident. Later, Simpson and Nicole Brown met when she was 18, marrying her as his second wife in 1982. He had two children with her, Justin and Sydney. But life was not particularly great of Simpson or his kids, as the police would often be called to their home to settle domestic altercations. "In 1989, Simpson pleaded no contest to charges of spousal battery, and the couple divorced in 1992. In June of 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ronald Goldman, were brutally murdered outside her home in Brentwood, California" (Contemporary Black Biography). Anyone who knew O.J. knew he was an angry and violent person. So, of course he was the first person of interest. The public's view of Simpson changed dramatically in 1994. Almost immediately, he was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend, the trial lasting for a year, being known as The Trial of the Century. "A single leather glove found outside Simpson's home matched a glove found at the crime scene. In preliminary DNA tests, blood found on the glove was shown to have come from Simpson and the two victims. After his arrest, further DNA tests would confirm this finding. Simpson had a wound on his hand, and his blood was a DNA match to drops found at the Brentwood crime scene. Nicole Brown Simpson's blood was discovered on a pair of socks found at the Rockingham estate. Simpson had recently purchased a 'Stiletto' knife of the type the coroner believed was used by the killer. Shoe prints in the blood at Brentwood matched Simpson's shoe size and later were shown to match a type of shoe he had owned. Neither the knife nor shoes were found by police" (History). It was looking very bad for O.J., seeming that with all the evidence he clearly killed the two women. The proof of this murder just kept piling on one after another. "Simpson had no alibi for the time frame of the murders. Some 40 minutes after the murders were committed, a limousine driver sent to take Simpson to the airport saw a man in dark clothing hurrying up the drive of his Rockingham estate. A few minutes later, Simpson spoke to the driver through the gate phone and let him in. During the previous 25 minutes, the driver had repeatedly called the house and received no answer" (History). There was a warrant put out for his arrest. He and lifelong friend Al Cowlings were refusing to pull over while in a low-speed police chase. While on the phone, Al reported to the police that Simpson was suicidal and would absolutely not pull over. The question of race was a major factor in the case, as it was believed that the predominantly white jury would sentence him with guilt, while a predominantly black jury would say he is innocent. "In polls, a majority of African-Americans believed Simpson to be innocent of the crime, while white America was confident of his guilt. However, the jury—made up of nine African Americans, two whites, and one Hispanic American—was not so divided; they took just four hours of deliberation to reach the verdict of not guilty on both murder charges. On October 3, 1995, an estimated 140 million Americans listened in on radio or watched on television as the verdict was delivered" (History).In 2005, when O.J. moved with his children to Florida, he was sued by DirecTV. He was allegedly pirating its satellite signals shown by a large amount of evidence. He lost the case and was ordered to pay this major company $25,000. A few years after the case, Simpson wrote a “hypothetical” book called If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened, detailing how he would have killed Nicole and Ronald. Rightfully enraged, the Goldman family sued him, and soon thereafter, gained rights to the book, making "minor" changes to it. Instead of the original title, they changed it to If I Did It: Confessions of The Killer. Any purchases the book had would go right to the Goldman family instead of O.J. Even after this extremely lengthy case, he never stopped being in trouble with the law, even after he was very close to being found guilty. Less than 10 years after the murder trial, he got wrapped up in another big case. “In 2007, Simpson ran into legal problems once again when he was arrested for breaking into a Las Vegas hotel room and taking sports memorabilia, which he claimed had been stolen from him, at gunpoint. On October 3, 2008, he was found guilty of 12 charges related to the incident, including armed robbery and kidnappings, and sentenced to 33 years in prison” (History). After 9 years in jail, he was let out early on October 1, 2017, for having good behavior. He is currently living in a gated community in Las Vegas, for some reason enjoying his days playing golf and is constantly on Twitter expressing his opinions on college and pro sports. The almost insane downfall of O.J. Simpson is definitely a spectacle to watch, as his flaws began to take over, ultimately ruining any semblance of fame he once had. His many controversies, crimes, and other actions tore his life apart, humble beginnings leading to an unknowable ending. Did he do it, did he not? The answer may never be found. But beyond reasonable doubt, he is the definition of a tragic hero, and just like many before him, tragic flaws always lead to tragic downfalls. That is guaranteed.
Sources
Britannica. www.britannica.com/biography/O-J-Simpson.
Britannica. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. "O.J. Simpson trial." Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Jan. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/event/O-J-Simpson-trial. Accessed 15 March 2022.
History. www.history.com/this-day-in-history/o-j-simpson-acquitted.
"O. J. Simpson." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 100, Detroit, MI, Gale, 2012. Gale in Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606001300/BIC?u=mlin_s_monomoy&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=3c576d9c. Accessed 9 Mar. 2022.
Vanity Fair. www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1995/12/dunne199512.
Web Solutions. sports.jrank.org/pages/4446/Simpson-O-J-Early-Years.html.
