![]() Simpson with the Bills on a Topps card of 1970 Professional football career Buffalo Bills Statistics Simpson's stats for the USC Trojans Season In the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, #2 USC faced top-ranked Ohio State Simpson ran for 171 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run in a 27–16 loss. He held the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory for 51 years, defeating runner-up Leroy Keyes by 1,750 points. Prior to playing football at Southern Cal, he ran in the USC sprint relay quartet that broke the world record in the 4 × 110-yard relay at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah on June 17, 1967.Īs a senior in 1968, Simpson rushed for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns in the regular season, earning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award. Simpson was an aspiring track athlete in 1967, he lost a 100 m race at Stanford against the then-British record holder Menzies Campbell. Simpson also won the Walter Camp Award in 1967 and was a two-time consensus All-American. ![]() This was the biggest play in what is regarded as one of the greatest football games of the 20th century.Īnother dramatic touchdown in the same game is the subject of the Arnold Friberg oil painting, O.J. Simpson's 64-yard touchdown run tied the score, and the extra point provided a 21–20 lead, which was the final score. On their own 36, USC backup quarterback Toby Page called an audible on third and seven. In that year's Victory Bell rivalry game between the teams, USC was down by six points in the fourth quarter with under 11 minutes remaining. Simpson led the nation in rushing both years under McKay: in 1967 with 1,543 yards and 13 touchdowns, and in 1968 with 1,880 yards on 383 carries.Īs a junior in 1967, Simpson was a close runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting to quarterback Gary Beban of UCLA. Simpson chose to attend the University of Southern California (USC), which he had admired as a young football fan, over the University of Utah and played running back for head coach John McKay in 19. City College won the Prune Bowl against Long Beach State, and many colleges sought Simpson as a transfer student for football. He played football both ways as a running back and defensive back and was named to the Junior College All-American team as a running back. After a childhood friend's injury in the Vietnam War influenced Simpson to stay out of the military, he enrolled at City College of San Francisco in 1965. College football and athletics careerĪlthough Simpson was an All-City football player at Galileo, his mediocre high-school grades prevented him from attracting the interest of many college recruiters. At Galileo High School (currently Galileo Academy of Science and Technology) in San Francisco, Simpson played for the school football team, the Galileo Lions. Future wife Marguerite, his childhood sweetheart, described Simpson as "really an awful person then" after his third arrest, a meeting with Willie Mays during which the baseball star encouraged Simpson to avoid trouble helped persuade him to reform. In his early teenage years, he joined a street gang called the Persian Warriors and was briefly incarcerated at the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center. ![]() Simpson grew up in San Francisco and lived with his family in the housing projects of the Potrero Hill neighborhood. Simpson's professional success was overshadowed by his trial and controversial acquittal for the murders of his former wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman. After retiring from football, he began new careers in acting and football broadcasting. Simpson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He was the only player to rush for over 2,000 yards in the 14-game regular season NFL format. He holds the record for the single-season yards-per-game average, which stands at 143.1. In 1973, he became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1978 to 1979. He played professionally as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills from 1969 to 1977. Simpson attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he played football for the USC Trojans and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed " Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. 2× NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1973, 1975).3× UPI AFC Offensive Player of the Year (1972, 1973, 1975).NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1973).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |