Before there was Aaron Hernandez—cloaked in a white t-shirt and gang
tattoos, being escorted by the police—there was O.J. Simpson, the infamous
white Bronco, and those gloves. Dubiously, “the Juice” could be considered the
original poster child of high-profile accused criminals affiliated with the
NFL.
On the evening of June 12, 1994,
Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, and her friend Ronald Goldman
were murdered and discovered in the early hours of June 13. The man once known
for juking defenders on the football field was chased down Los Angeles freeways
in a white Ford Bronco and arrested
June 17. The 1968 Heisman Trophy-winning halfback
was charged with the double homicide, and the trial mesmerized the nation in
the months to follow. On October 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted in a jury
decision that polarized Americans and took TV airwaves hostage.
Photo courtesy of binaryapi.ap.org.
The details of the O.J. Simpson case are solidified, if not by
public acceptance at least by time and the relative shock value of crimes since
committed by NFL talents. Like previously-mentioned Rae Carruth and Jovan Belcher, Simpson lacked a lengthy
criminal past. However, he is said to have been involved in a San Francisco gang as a teenager.
O.J. Simpson represents something very different from the men
mentioned prior to him in this series. He precedes them. He symbolizes the
crushed esteem of sports fans who previously maintained the façade that
professional athletes at least shied away from trouble. Like Watergate for
politicians or Columbine for school safety, the accusations, the chase, the
attention-hogging trial, and the famous verdict cracked the shell of a world in
which our professional athletes were susceptible to the snags of being human.
Prior to the Juice, criminal mischief done by ne’er-do-well
athletes was low-profile. June 1994 changed that, acquittal or not. The beloved
halfback, Buffalo Bill, commercial personality, and actor became the face of
cold-blooded murder, whether he committed it or only appeared to have.
Prosecutors Marcia Clark and her team ripped back the curtain on an
all-too-common truth now well-known across the world of professional football:
the guys on Sunday are human, and many are big and violent.
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