O.J. Simpson, former Bills running back who was acquitted of double murder, dies at 76, family says
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — O.J. Simpson, the former Buffalo Bills running back who was famously acquitted of double murder in 1995, has died at 76, his family announced on social media Thursday morning.
His family announced that he died following a battle with cancer.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” his family wrote. “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.”
Timeline: Key events in the life of O.J. Simpson, from sports hero to movie star to murder trial
Simpson was reportedly in Las Vegas at the time of his passing, according to TMZ.
Simpson was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 and is a member of the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame. But his legacy was forever changed by the June 1994 knife slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.
Buffalo Bills’ O.J. Simpson posed in 1969. O.J. Simpson, the decorated football superstar and Hollywood actor who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial, has died. He was 76. Simpson’s attorney confirmed to TMZ he died Wednesday night, April 10, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/File) In this Nov. 25, 1976 file photo, Buffalo Bills’ O.J. Simpson rushes through a large hole in the center fo the Detroit Lions defensive line to score on a 12-yard run for his second touchdown of the game in an NFL football game in Pontiac, Mich. Simpson added some “Juice” – rushing for a Thanksgiving Day-record 273 yards – to what wound up as a 27-14 Bills defeat at the hands of the Lions at the Pontiac Silverdome on Thanksgiving Day 1976. (AP Photo/File) FILE – O.J. Simpson, left, smiles next to San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. at a news conference where the 49ers announced that Simpson had been traded to them from the Buffalo Bills, in San Francisco, March 24, 1978. San Francisco dealt five draft picks to Buffalo in 1978 for hometown star O.J. Simpson, who was about to turn 31 and coming off knee surgery. (AP Photo/Sal Veder, file) O.J. Simpson and his lawyer Robert Shapiro smile during hearing in Los Angeles court room, July 29, 1994. Judge Lance Ito set Sept. 20 for start of the trial. (AP Photo/Pool/Nick Ut) In this June 17, 1994 file photo, a white Ford Bronco, driven by Al Cowlings carrying O.J. Simpson, is trailed by Los Angeles police cars as it travels on a freeway in Los Angeles. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman are found dead in Los Angeles. Simpson is later arrested after a widely televised freeway chase in his white Ford Bronco. (AP Photo/Joseph Villarin, File) O.J. Simpson’s close friend Al Cowlings, at the wheel of a Ford Bronco with Simpson hiding, leads police on a two-county chase northbound 405 Freeway towards Simpson’s home, June 17, 1994, in Los Angeles. Simpson later surrendered to police and charged with two counts of murder in connection with the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. (AP Photo/Lois Bernstein) FILE – In this July 20, 2017, file photo, former NFL football star O.J. Simpson appears via video for his parole hearing at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nev. The 74-year-old former football hero, acquitted California murder defendant and convicted Las Vegas armed robber was granted good behavior credits and discharged from parole effective Dec. 1, the day after a hearing before the Nevada state Board of Parole, Kim Yoko Smith, spokeswoman for the Nevada State Police, said Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. (Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, Pool, File) In this July 20, 2017, file photo, former NFL football star O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nev. Simpson got into a series of minor legal scrapes following his 1995 acquittal of murder charges in the deaths of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. (Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP, Pool, File) O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills (32) goes through the New York Jets line Dec.16, 1973 at Shea Stadium in New York in the first quarter play in which Simpson broke the NFL season rushing record. Also shown are Joe Ferguson (12) and Paul Seymour (87) of the Bills and Phil Wise (27) and John Ebersole (55) of the Jets. (AP Photo) Larry Brown, left, Washington Redskins, O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills and Carl Garrett, right, of the Chicago Bears, get together before New England Pro Football Awards dinner in Boston, May 20, 1973. They are among the candidates for the first annual Druker Award for the Outstanding Man in Professional Football. People at the dinner will vote and the award announced later at night. (AP Photo/Frank C. Curtin) O.J. Simpson, center, with defense attorneys F. Lee Bailey, left, and Johnnie Cochran after Simpson was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman at the Criminal Courts Building in Los Angeles on Oct. 3, 1995. (AP Photo/Myung J. Chun, file) Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson with fans prior to an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
A criminal court jury found him not guilty of murder in 1995, but a separate civil trial jury found him liable in 1997 for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to family members of Brown and Goldman, per the Associated Press.
Live TV coverage of his arrest after a famous slow-speed chase in a white Ford Bronco marked a stunning fall from grace for the sports hero. The public was mesmerized by his “trial of the century” on live TV. His case sparked debates on race, gender, domestic abuse, celebrity justice and police misconduct.
Simpson’s legal troubles continued later in his life. In 2008, he was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison after he and a group of men entered a hotel room at a Las Vegas casino and took sports memorabilia at gunpoint in September 2007. Two of the men had guns. Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and other felony charges. The parole board heard him insist yet again that he was only trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and family heirlooms stolen from him after his criminal trial in Los Angeles.
He was released from prison in October 2017 after serving almost nine years and was released from parole in December 2021.
Simpson was drafted first overall by the Bills in 1969 following a Heisman Trophy-winning collegiate career at USC. He turned into an immediate star in Buffalo, becoming the first rusher in NFL history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in 1973, which was also when the season was just 14 games. He was named the NFL’s MVP in that same season. It was one of four times he led the league in rush yards. During his time in Buffalo, he earned the nickname, “The Juice.”
He played for the Bills until 1977 before he spent two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
In his career, he rushed for over 11,000 yards and had 61 rushing touchdowns, 57 of them coming in a Bills uniform. He also had 14 career receiving touchdowns, 12 of them with Buffalo. He was named as a first-team All-Pro five times and played in five Pro Bowls. His single season yards per game average from the 1973 season (143.1) still stands to this day.
Towards the end of as well as following his football career Simpson also appeared in several television shows and movies such as “The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” “The Cassandra Crossing,” “Capricorn One” and three “Naked Gun” films. In 1975, Hertz signed him as the first Black man for a national advertising campaign, leading to the familiar commercials of him running through airports in a three-piece suit to get to his rental car. He also spent time as a football commentator after his playing career.
Simpson was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year and undergoing chemotherapy. In a Feb. 9 post to X, Simpson spoke out against rumors that he was in hospice care saying at the time that “all is well” and that he was not in hospice.
Nexstar Media Wire and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
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