OJ Simpson is gone now. But his life and public journey over seven decades touched multiple areas of American life, from sports to the legal arena to culture. His murder trial in 1994 – and his acquittal in 1995 – had profound consequences for the way people talk about race and domestic violence.
Here, Associated Press journalists with expertise in three areas – law, sports and culture – discuss what will endure long after Simpson’s death fades from public discussion.
___
The Simpson trial was the first to raise broad public awareness of the burgeoning science of DNA evidence. While jurors rejected forensics in 1995 when they acquitted him of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend, Ron Goldman, juries would forever be privy to the science afterward.
The trial was the first in a series of cases and TV shows involving DNA, including the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal three years later, and the premiere of the original “CSI” two years after that.
Now DNA is expected by jurors and court observers, frustrating prosecutors in cases where it is not.
The choice to televise all nine months of the Simpson trial provided unprecedented scrutiny and made celebrities of almost every character in the case on Court TV. It caused a long hangover that continues nearly thirty years later, and there is no expectation, at least in California, that a trial will be televised in this wall-to-wall fashion again.
Other states still occasionally allow it — and those are the lawsuits, like the 2022 fight between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in Virginia, that are getting the most attention.
– By AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton, who regularly reports on lawsuits related to celebrities and the entertainment industry.
___
Football made OJ Simpson a star and he was one of the greatest players in NFL history and the best running back of his era in the 1970s. He was a superstar in college at the University of Southern California and received a hero’s welcome in Buffalo when the Bills selected him No. 1 overall in the 1969 NFL draft. Even teammates were awed by Simpson’s presence.
And while it took coaches four years to figure out how to best use him, he didn’t disappoint.
Simpson was a graceful runner and a gracious teammate. He combined speed and strength with intangible skills that helped him become the first player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season and the only one to ever do so when the league played a 14-game schedule. He shared the honors by bringing his offensive linemen to the press conference after setting the record.
His mark of 143.1 yards rushing per game still stands, and he led the league in rushing four times in a five-year span. Simpson’s achievements earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 1985.
However, his success did not translate into championships. The Bills reached the playoffs just once and had just three winning seasons in Simpson’s nine years with the team. He played two more years with the San Francisco 49ers, who won only four games during that period.
Simpson’s influence extended beyond the field, to television. He started acting while still in college and co-starred in films during his playing career. He was a successful NFL analyst, pitchman and Hollywood star before murder charges halted his career and tarnished his legacy.
The NFL and its former teams distanced themselves from Simpson after the murder trial. His death was not publicly acknowledged by the league or the teams.
– By AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi, who covers the NFL.
___
When it comes to the intersection of TV and the tabloids, there’s before OJ Simpson – and after.
The man and the case, with all their tabloid undertones, overtones and heartfelt tones, merged all the celebrity misdeeds of the 20th century into one incredibly lurid, high-profile saga that obsessed a nation. There are echoes of so much – from the intense speculation surrounding the Lindbergh baby case to the snap verdicts in the trial of Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, from the Hollywood-soaked Manson murders to the murder of John Lennon by a crazed fan and the attempted about the life of President Ronald Reagan through a man obsessed with Jodie Foster.
It wasn’t just about looking back, though; it was about what was at hand as the 21st century dawned. The man at the center of it all had been a hero, movie star and TV host who quickly became a fallen icon and started many things that were just around the corner.
His demise allowed true crime to enter the mainstream media industry (as questionable as that result was). It helped fuel the emerging culture of reality TV and the obsession with the antihero. And of course, it predicted some of the more basic features of social media well over a decade before that corner of society emerged.
No matter how anyone felt about Simpson, chances were they were paying attention. That, more than anything, may be the legacy of the man and the saga that surrounded him during a very strange miniature era of American history.
– By AP National Writer Ted Anthony, who writes about American culture and how it is changing.