O.J. Simpson, Football Star Born in San Francisco and Central Figure in 'Trial of the Century,' Dies at 76

O.J. Simpson, the former football star whose 1990s murder trial became one of the most sensational and racially charged episodes in American history, has died at age 76. His family said he died Wednesday.

In a statement posted Thursday on the social network X, the family said cancer was the cause. "He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren," the statement said, adding that the family asked for privacy and grace "during this time of transition."

Simpson was born in San Francisco on July 9, 1947, and grew up in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood. He played football at Galileo High School and San Francisco City College, then transferred to the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968.

His professional career was spent largely with the Buffalo Bills, with whom he rushed for more than 11,000 yards over 11 seasons and earned a place in the Hall of Fame. In 1973 he became the first player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He finished his playing days with the San Francisco 49ers in 1979.

After football, Simpson worked as a Monday Night Football broadcaster for ABC, appeared alongside Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun comedies, and was a familiar pitchman for Hertz Rent-a-Car.

In 1994, he was charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. The proceedings, dubbed the "trial of the century," held the nation's attention for months and ended in an acquittal that exposed deep racial divisions. A civil jury later found Simpson liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown and Goldman and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages to their families.

His later years were turbulent and included a prison term for armed robbery. He maintained his innocence in the killings to the end, and in 2006 published a controversial book, If I Did It, offering a hypothetical account of how he might have committed the crimes.

Timothy Alan Simon, a San Francisco native and attorney who knew members of Simpson's family, spoke with The San Francisco Standard on Thursday. He remembered Simpson as "a great athlete, a great person, a trail blazer for Black athletes to move into corporate America as endorsers for organizations."

Simon recalled watching the Oct. 3, 1995, verdict from the library of a law firm on the 35th floor of Bank of America's 555 California offices, where he worked. He said about seven Black attorneys and roughly 180 white attorneys gathered, with the groups on opposite sides of the room. When the acquittal was announced, he said, the Black attorneys embraced while the white attorneys were visibly upset. He said he would remember it for life, as a reminder that society "runs on the rule of law, not on what you thought."

Simon also noted that the trial elevated Simpson's defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran in legal history and helped create "a whole media industry: court coverage and legal analysis, as a regular part of television news." Of Simpson's life, he said he saw "nothing but success within the peaks and valleys that we all face," adding, "I believe that he's in a better place."