O.J. Simpson's Ohio story included Rose Bowl vs. Buckeyes, post-murder-trial theft of bust

The death of O.J. Simpson musters myriad reactions around the world.

On his best days as a running back, he was, in some minds, as dominant as Jim Brown. His Pro Football Hall of Fame and film career preceded one of history's most famous murder trials.

Simpson was a California story through much of his life, with Ohio figuring into an unforgettable chapter.

As the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner at USC, he was the foil to what became perhaps Ohio State's most beloved team. Against the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, he scored on an 80-yard touchdown and ran for 171 yards.

An Ohio State team featuring several key players from Stark County pulled out a 27-16 win and won the national championship.

Within 31 days of that game, and the Browns losing in an AFC championship game, Simpson was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1969 NFL draft.

He became a major Bills star running behind "The Electric Company." The leader of that offensive line was Joe DeLamielleure, eventually traded to the Browns and elected to the Hall of Fame.

DeLamielleure said in interviews years later Simpson was a good guy and a good teammate. He reserved comment on the murder trial.

Ten years after the Cleveland legend, Brown, ran for an NFL record 1,863 yards, Simpson broke the record by putting up 2,003 in 1973.

Twelve years after that, Simpson came to Canton as part of what remains one of the most star-studded classes in Hall of Fame enshrinement history.

He went in with Joe Namath, Roger Staubach, Pete Rozelle and Frank Gatski, a Cleveland glory-days great.

Enshrinements in those days were conducted around the front stairs of the Hall. Some media members sat in the front rows, near enshrinees' families.

The overflow crowd stretched from the steps to Interstate 77 when Simpson inspected his newly unveiled bronze bust before taking the podium. The most memorable part of his talk came when he made eye contact with his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, seated a few rows back.

"We've been through a lot, baby," he said.

That was Aug. 3, 1985.

He was entering the last of his three seasons as a Monday Night Football analyst. He stayed in the public eye as an actor, known to millions for his role of "Detective Nordberg" in each installment of "The Naked Gun" movies released in 1988, 1991 and 1994, starring Leslie Nielsen.

Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman died in a double murder on June 12, 1994. The well-documented saga that ensued didn't end when the trial accusing Simpson as the killer culminated with a not-guilty verdict 11 months later.

The 1995 Hall of Fame enshrinement unfolded on July 23, not long after the trial ended. Amid heavy visitor traffic in the museum, Simpson's bust somehow disappeared.

The bust was recovered the next day 50 miles away along I-77. It was promptly reinstalled in the enshrinement gallery and is on display now.

In 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas on charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. He was convicted and sentenced to 33 years imprisonment. He served less than 10 years.

He was 76 when he died of cancer in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Jim Brown shared some thoughts on Simpson in his 1989 book, "Out of Bounds."

An excerpt:

"The Juice likes to pretend he's modest, but that's just the Juice, being the Juice. O.J. is extremely smart. The man knows how to make a buck, and his 'aw shucks' image is his meal ticket.

"He's not about to jeopardize it by being honest. I was watching the Juice announce a game once. He said the guy down on the field was probably a finer runner than he'd been. What a bunch of bull (expletive)!

"I know O.J. Simpson. He doesn't think there's a runner, dead or alive, who was a better back than he was."

"However phony the guy, O.J. the runner was the genuine item."

Brown died on May 28, 2023.  Last Aug. 3, during Hall of Fame week, Brown was remembered in a program in Canton attended by a mixture of family members, celebrities and fans.

From time to time, Simpson was invited back as a "past enshrinee," but he never returned to Canton after the murder trial.

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com  

This article originally appeared on The Repository: O.J. Simpson, his Hall of Fame legacy and infamous post-football life