OJ Simpson (Photo by Issac Brekken-Pool/Getty Images)
The remains of controversial NFL running back OJ Simpson have been cremated, according to his lawyer.
OJ Simpson passed away at the age of 76 last week following a battle with cancer. The Pro Football Hall of Famer had revealed in May of last year that he was undergoing chemotherapy for prostate cancer.
Malcolm LaVergne, the executor for the late Simpson’s estate, told Ruth Styles of the Daily Mail that Simpson’s remains had been cremated: LaVergne told the outlet that Simpson’s four children will scatter his ashes at a private location of his request.
Additionally, LaVergne offered the following statement to the Daily Mail:
“OJ wouldn’t want anyone to feel sad for him. He’d tell you straight up, man, he’s had a great life, happy life, certainly, he had his trials and tribulations, but his last seven years were fantastic, so he wouldn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him.”
The first overall pick of the 1969 NFL Draft was a five-time Pro Bowler and four-time rushing champion who won 1973 NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors. He retired after a two-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
OJ Simpson Leaves Behind A Complicated Legacy
“The Juice” was more than a star running back for the Buffalo Bills in the ’70s. He was a charismatic, outgoing and beloved celebrity who later found success in Hollywood (namely “The Naked Gun” film series) and Hertz commercials, among other endorsements.
But of course, nobody can talk about OJ Simpson without the “Trial of the Century.” In June 1994, he was charged with the gruesome murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, outside of Brown’s condo.
Despite Simpson’s disturbing history of domestic violence and death threats against Brown, strong witness testimonies and a mountain of DNA evidence against the former NFLer, Simpson was acquitted of both murders.
In 1997, Simpson was found liable for the murders of Brown and Goldman. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families, though they only got a small portion of that.
In 2008, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery stemming from a Las Vegas hotel incident in 2007. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison, but was paroled in the summer of 2017.