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O.J. Simpson dies at age 76

O.J. Simpson, the former NFL star and broadcaster whose athletic achievements and fame were eclipsed by his 1995 acquittal in the brutal killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, has died of cancer, his family announced Thursday on X. He was 76.

While Simpson was a highly decorated athlete – winning the 1968 Heisman Trophy as a senior running back at the University of Southern California before playing for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and later the San Francisco 49ers – he became perhaps one of the most controversial figures of the late 20th century after he was charged with the murders of his former wife and her friend. A jury found him not guilty in a trial that saw America’s fascination with celebrity collide with its centuries long struggle with race, as well as issues of class, policing and criminal justice. Helicopters followed overhead as police chased the Bronco in a low-speed pursuit broadcast across the hectic Los Angeles area as Simpson reportedly held a gun to his head.

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