O.J. Simpson’s legacy on the football field has always been overshadowed by questions about his personal life that have been heavily scrutinized and debated for good reason. Naturally, his death on Thursday morning at the age of 76 has made that scrutiny and controversy re-emerge.
Simpson is known by some as one of the best running backs in NFL history. But unfortunately, he is known by even more as the defendant in the murder case of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
The all-time great running back famously was ruled to be not guilty in the case. But it has been one of the more debated court cases in the history of the United States, as there was some pretty clear evidence connecting Simpson to the murders.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith discussed Simpson’s complicated legacy on Thursday’s edition of First Take, detailing how he believes that his connections to the murder are too hard to ignore.
“There’s no balance when it comes to that,” Smith said on First Take via Mediaite. “When you think about O.J. Simpson, you may remember that he’s a football player; but what you remember most is the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and you think, obviously, of him. There’s no way around that.”
Stephen A. then didn’t mince words about his opinion of the murders, saying that if he were on the jury, he would have “thrown Simpson under the jail”.
“Most people believe that he committed those murders,” Smith said. “I know that if I was on the jury, he would’ve been under the [expletive] jail. I know that much. I believe he was guilty, but I don’t know. I’m talking about based on the evidence that was placed before us during the trial overseen by Judge Lance Ito. This is what we saw on national television, and by most accounts, you found yourself believing he was guilty as [expletive].”
Smith is absolutely correct in his assessment. His troubles off of the football field far outweigh the triumphs that he had on it, especially for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
[Mediaite]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.