The elephant in the room
Well , since I grew up in the 70's , I'll bring it up . oj is in the top 5 of rb's all time , but like pete rose , he's persona non grata for what he did afterwards. Where he's at now , johhny cochran cant help him , he will be judged by the ultimate ruler. If you grew up in the 70's he was an all around star , monday night footbal , comercials , movies etc But what he did is unforgivable . Please don't let this devolve into politics and name calling.
Re: The elephant in the room
Actually, he's innocent. The glove didn't fit...
Re: The elephant in the room
I was a teenager during the trial, so my mind’s image of him is more of a criminal defendant than a football player (though I was aware of his achievements). I don’t think it’s crazy to compare it to the moon landing for my generation, in terms of universal public interest and media coverage.
As a kid who knew nothing about nothing at the time, the OJ trial taught me two pretty important lessons that are still extremely relevant today-
1) Crimes are determined in a court of law, not the court of public opinion. And
2) Maybe the courts don’t always get it right.
None of us witnessed the crime, so who knows what actually happened? But his demeanor during the trial and his bonehead decisions later in life certainly didn’t support his claims of innocence. Hopefully the families of the victims can find some modicum of peace now.
Re: The elephant in the room
Jim Brown, O.J., Gale, Walter, and Barry. There have been a lot of great running backs. I'm an old guy, so those are my top 5. Single greatest performance in my mind was OJ tearing up the Steel Curtain. Everybody knew the Buffalo offense was handoff to the Juice. Didn't matter. He still racked up 200 + against a great defense. And yes, I know his line deserves credit to. They played superbly. Power and speed. Plant that foot, spin, head in a new direction. Every generation has its stars that we hold on to. Athletes are bigger, stronger, faster now. But it will always be Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. Say goodnight Gracie.
Re: Re: The elephant in the room
Just to be clear, O.J. was not found innocent, he was found Not Guilty, which means that the jury could not convict him for the crime because they had reasonable doubt as to the evidence they had been provided, there is a HUGE difference between Innocent and Not Guilty.
Re: The elephant in the room
I've got a better question: if OJ didn't do the murders, who did?
Re: Re: The elephant in the room
We will never know, O.J. lost 8 years of 'His search" while in prison for Kidnapping and extortion.
Re: Re: The elephant in the room
The leading all-time Bills rusher is ... Thurman Thomas.
Re: The elephant in the room
Just to remind everyone, OJ was found liable for the murders in the trial where the standard was "preponderance of the evidence," which is a neutral standard (plaintiff needs over 50% of the evidence). "Reasonable doubt" is a non-neutral standard (prosecution needs an overwhelming majority of the evidence, which has been estimated at 90-98%). If we're relying on the courts (criminal and civil), their collective judgment is that he probably did it. In fact, "probable cause" is an even lower standard than "preponderance." And the glove had DNA of all three principals involved--OJ and the two victims.
I'm assuming the "he's innocent--glove didn't fit" remark was in jest.
But there's no denying his ability. I think he was the best RB in NFL history to that point--like Jim Brown, but with more breakaway speed. An amazing, transcendental figure on the field.
