O.J. Simpson sports cards and memorabilia have become a hot commodity on eBay following his death. Over 1,500 Simpson-related items have been sold on eBay as of early Thursday afternoon (3 p.m.ET). This spike comes the day Simpson’s family announced the former NFL star acquitted of murder died after his battle with cancer.
On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer.
He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace.
-The Simpson Family
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) April 11, 2024
Items collectors are buying up range from Simpson’s 1970 Topps rookie card, to autograph photos and helmets, and even a white Ford Bronco trading card. According to CardLadder.com, 2,041 Simpson trading cards were sold from April 11, 2023 to April 10, 2024. Today could shatter that number.
To say Simpson left behind a complicated legacy is quite an understatement. “The Juice” was one of the greatest running backs ever, becoming the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. On top of his Hall of Fame career, Simpson would end up starring in movies and commercials. For those growing up in the 1980s, he was instantly recognizable as a pitchman for Hertz, his role in “The Naked Gun” movies and as an NFL broadcaster.
Presented without comment pic.twitter.com/wJ6X3x6oeo
— Will Stern (@WillStern_) April 11, 2024
However, that all changed on June 12, 1994, when Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed outside her condominium in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. Five days later, tens of millions of people watched the infamous white Ford Bronco chase where Simpson and his friend, Al Cowlings, led Los Angeles police on a slow-speed pursuit that ended at Simpson’s house, where he was eventually taken into custody.
What followed was the “Trial of the Century,” where ,after 11 months of testimony and only four hours of deliberations, Simpson was found not guilty of murder. However, a civil trial jury found Simpson liable in the deaths of Brown-Simpson and Goldman and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families.
The trial divided a nation as it came on the heels of four Los Angeles police officers found not guilty of assault in the beating of Rodney King.
“I don’t think most of America believes I did it,” Simpson told The New York Times in 1995, shortly after the verdict. “I’ve gotten thousands of letters and telegrams from people supporting me.”
Simpson did end up spending nearly nine years in prison, though, for taking sports memorabilia at gunpoint inside a Las Vegas hotel room in September 2007. Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and other related charges on Oct. 3, 2008. He was released on Oct. 1, 2017.
Simpson spent the last seven years of his life mainly out of the spotlight, but he was the subject of an FX miniseries and an ESPN documentary in 2016.
Simpson died at the age of 76.
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