Veteran US footballer & Hollywood actor OJ Simpson succumbed to cancer

A renowned American Football star and Hollywood actor OJ Simpson passed away at the age of 76 on Wednesday, following a battle with cancer since long time.

His family has confirmed the news by posting a statement on Simpson’s X (Twitter) account. They urged everyone to allow them privacy during this time. The football star had contributed a lot in the field of sports, due to which he earned popularity and fortune.

In the late 1960s, he was the star tailback for the Trojans in the powerful University of Southern California football team, and he seemed to have surpassed racial barriers. Later in the 1970s, he became an advertising pitchman for rental cars, running around airports. In the 1980s, he was known as the husband of a high school homecoming queen who had blond hair and blue eyes.

The people across the nation were amazed by his live TV show, “trial of the century”, which involved topics of various genres such as debates on gender, race, celebrity justice, domestic abuse and police misconduct.

He was arrested by the police in June 1994 under the charges of double murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronal Goldman. The news gained international headlines and was spread all over the world.

The bodies of the duo were recovered at the doorstep of his ex-wife’s residence in Los Angeles.

Initially, he was declared not guilty of the murders in 1995 but a separate civil trial was executed against him in 1997, where he was found liable for the offence. Simpson was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the family members of Goldman and Brown.

He was sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of being an accomplice in a hotel room robbery. The victim of this robbery was a sports memorabilia collector.

Additionally, Simpson played a total of 11 NFL seasons, nine of them were plated with the Buffalo Bills. This had turned to be a huge success for him as he became known as “The Juice” on an offensive line, “The Electric Company.”

Moreover, he achieved four NFL rushing titles, including 11,236 yards in his career and scored 76 touchdowns. He had also played in five Pro Bowls.