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I read today's New York Post and saw a pic of Justin Simpson in his Junior Varsity Football gear. The article mentioned that he's 14 years old now and 6'1" and 190lbs as a running back. It looks like he's on his way to follow in most of his dad's footsteps. What I want to see is a pic of his now 16 year old sister.
O.J.'s children adapt to new life while in shadow of the old
BY MANNY NAVARRO
[email protected]
Running back Justin Simpson has broken free from a pair of tacklers at the 20-yard line and is zipping past a tired defense for a touchdown. His teammates circle him for a round of high-fives.
Nearby his sister, Sydney, is huddled with friends waiting for volleyball practice to begin.
There in the stands at Gulliver Prep in Coral Gables, their father is watching. Even perched under an umbrella and wearing sunglasses, he is easily recognized.
O.J. Simpson.
The Hall of Fame running back.
The actor and sports commentator.
The man accused -- and acquitted in criminal court -- of a double homicide.
It's been eight years since Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife and his children's mother, was slain, seven since Simpson was acquitted of the crime, and nearly three since the Simpsons began new lives in South Florida.
Justin says he and his sister are coping just fine.
Justin calls moving to Miami ``probably one of the best things that happened in my life.''
Still, he has had tough times.
''From time to time, I think about it,'' Justin said of his mother's murder. ``But I just have to get it through my system when it comes into my mind. Then I just move on.''
Justin and Sydney take honors classes. But sports, their father says, has made them popular in high school and brought them a sense of normalcy.
''This is where they will graduate,'' Simpson said. ``As you might imagine, most people would think it would be impossible for them to have a normal life, but their lives are as normal as any kids I know.
``Seeing my kids excel and seeing how happy and normal their lives are makes me happy. But what I'm most happy to see is that they have a crew of friends here. They're good students. They're very popular -- that's what I'm most proud of.''
Sydney, a 16-year-old junior, is a varsity player on Gulliver's girls' volleyball team. Justin, a 14-year-old freshman, is on its junior-varsity football team. He also plays basketball and lacrosse.
But while both are athletes, Justin carries perhaps the bigger burden, playing the same sport and position as his legendary father.
Simpson was six feet one inch and 212 pounds during his NFL playing days. He first tasted stardom at Galileo High School in San Francisco, then at the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in 1969.
During an 11-year NFL career with the Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he rushed for 11,236 yards and became the first man to gain more than 2,000 yards in one season. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
That's a lot for Justin to live up to.
''I'm my own player,'' Justin insisted. ``I'm not just the son of him. He encourages me a lot because of the football and all that. But I always look at myself as my own player and play my game, not his.''
Justin, who has grown five inches the past year to stretch to six feet one inch and 189 pounds, admits that the pressure has gotten to him at times. He almost quit shortly after playing the sport for the first time in the seventh grade.
His father told him to give it another shot. By midseason, Simpson said, Justin had fallen in love with the sport. At his eighth-grade graduation, he was named Gulliver Academy's Most Valuable Student Athlete.
PRODUCTIVE
Now on the junior varsity squad, Justin has scored five touchdowns in Gulliver's first four games.
''He's got a great attitude and he's a great team player,'' Gulliver JV coach Brian Ludwig said.``It's going to take a few years before he can be the star people are figuring him to be.''
Justin, who grew up playing basketball, could excel first on the basketball court. Gulliver athletic director Chuck Tobey said the teen could play varsity this season. Either way, Justin says he doesn't want to be compared to his father athletically.
''He's pretty determined to make his own path and he makes that very clear,'' Ludwig said.
Simpson, meanwhile, says he hasn't pushed his children to pursue sports.
Although he helped coach his daughter's basketball team in Los Angeles, he says he has no plans to coach in the future.
Instead, he says, he gives his children and their teammates pointers and cheers them on.
''I'll give a coach a play here or there,'' said Simpson, 55. ``But I usually don't help unless I'm asked. So now I sit on the sidelines and talk to the parents and coaches.
``It's a pleasure. I've watched about half these kids grow up now for three years. Seen them get through problems, get their act together. Watching them is terrific.''
Although Simpson admits he felt some parents at the school were unhappy with his presence when the family first moved from Los Angeles, he says he ``has never had a problem.''
''I just ignore them,'' Simpson said.
One father said at a volleyball match Saturday that Simpson's presence at games is not a distraction.
Eduardo Cardin, whose daughter Sylvia plays for Gulliver, said he often chats with Simpson about sports.
''He's very well received,'' Cardin said. ``They treat him as a normal person, like any other parent.''
Simpson says his house has become a neighborhood hangout for his children's friends and others. O.J. has welcomed Miami Hurricanes running back Frank Gore and safety Sean Taylor as well as the Miami Killian High football team.
''Any day of the week, you drive by my house and it's filled with kids,'' Simpson said.
``I like the fact that the house is sort of the hangout. I can keep a close eye on them.''
Simpson and his children moved to Kendall in 1999, three years after a judge granted him full custody of Justin and Sydney. Nicole Brown Simpson's parents, Louis and Juditha Brown, were the guardians of their grandchildren while O.J. was on trial.
Despite his acquittal in criminal court, a civil jury held Simpson liable for the killings of his ex-wife and friend Ronald Goldman and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.
He has not worked since then and has said he cannot afford to pay.
He maintains that he is innocent of the killings. Simpson receives a monthly NFL pension: reportedly $16,000, net.
HIGH VISIBILITY
Simpson hasn't been able to stay out of the headlines -- girlfriend troubles, a road-rage trial, a federal raid of his home for the drug Ecstasy, and a recent boating ticket accusing him of speeding through a manatee zone in a power boat.
Justin Simpson said he doesn't worry about his father's notoriety. He says he doesn't watch the news and supports his father fully.
''I never got mad at my dad,'' Justin said. ``I've always been supportive. I never doubted him. I am proud of my dad. He's made it through a lot of tough things. Tough times.''
Although he spends most afternoons on the golf course, Simpson says he has been spending a lot of time writing, although not for publication. The topics, he says, range from the war in Afghanistan to troubled Minnesota Vikings receiver Randy Moss.
His more serious concerns, however, are with his children.
He says watching them play sports has been nerve-racking.
''Last year in a big basketball game, Justin had to go to the free-throw line with his team down one point and no time left,'' Simpson said. ``He missed the first one -- and I tell you, I almost had a heart attack.
``Thankfully, he made the second shot and they won in overtime. But the point is, I think that may have been the single most nervous time in my life. More than anything -- and I mean more than anything.''
Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/4184977.htm
O.J.'s children adapt to new life while in shadow of the old
BY MANNY NAVARRO
[email protected]
Running back Justin Simpson has broken free from a pair of tacklers at the 20-yard line and is zipping past a tired defense for a touchdown. His teammates circle him for a round of high-fives.
Nearby his sister, Sydney, is huddled with friends waiting for volleyball practice to begin.
There in the stands at Gulliver Prep in Coral Gables, their father is watching. Even perched under an umbrella and wearing sunglasses, he is easily recognized.
O.J. Simpson.
The Hall of Fame running back.
The actor and sports commentator.
The man accused -- and acquitted in criminal court -- of a double homicide.
It's been eight years since Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife and his children's mother, was slain, seven since Simpson was acquitted of the crime, and nearly three since the Simpsons began new lives in South Florida.
Justin says he and his sister are coping just fine.
Justin calls moving to Miami ``probably one of the best things that happened in my life.''
Still, he has had tough times.
''From time to time, I think about it,'' Justin said of his mother's murder. ``But I just have to get it through my system when it comes into my mind. Then I just move on.''
Justin and Sydney take honors classes. But sports, their father says, has made them popular in high school and brought them a sense of normalcy.
''This is where they will graduate,'' Simpson said. ``As you might imagine, most people would think it would be impossible for them to have a normal life, but their lives are as normal as any kids I know.
``Seeing my kids excel and seeing how happy and normal their lives are makes me happy. But what I'm most happy to see is that they have a crew of friends here. They're good students. They're very popular -- that's what I'm most proud of.''
Sydney, a 16-year-old junior, is a varsity player on Gulliver's girls' volleyball team. Justin, a 14-year-old freshman, is on its junior-varsity football team. He also plays basketball and lacrosse.
But while both are athletes, Justin carries perhaps the bigger burden, playing the same sport and position as his legendary father.
Simpson was six feet one inch and 212 pounds during his NFL playing days. He first tasted stardom at Galileo High School in San Francisco, then at the University of Southern California, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Buffalo Bills in 1969.
During an 11-year NFL career with the Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he rushed for 11,236 yards and became the first man to gain more than 2,000 yards in one season. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
That's a lot for Justin to live up to.
''I'm my own player,'' Justin insisted. ``I'm not just the son of him. He encourages me a lot because of the football and all that. But I always look at myself as my own player and play my game, not his.''
Justin, who has grown five inches the past year to stretch to six feet one inch and 189 pounds, admits that the pressure has gotten to him at times. He almost quit shortly after playing the sport for the first time in the seventh grade.
His father told him to give it another shot. By midseason, Simpson said, Justin had fallen in love with the sport. At his eighth-grade graduation, he was named Gulliver Academy's Most Valuable Student Athlete.
PRODUCTIVE
Now on the junior varsity squad, Justin has scored five touchdowns in Gulliver's first four games.
''He's got a great attitude and he's a great team player,'' Gulliver JV coach Brian Ludwig said.``It's going to take a few years before he can be the star people are figuring him to be.''
Justin, who grew up playing basketball, could excel first on the basketball court. Gulliver athletic director Chuck Tobey said the teen could play varsity this season. Either way, Justin says he doesn't want to be compared to his father athletically.
''He's pretty determined to make his own path and he makes that very clear,'' Ludwig said.
Simpson, meanwhile, says he hasn't pushed his children to pursue sports.
Although he helped coach his daughter's basketball team in Los Angeles, he says he has no plans to coach in the future.
Instead, he says, he gives his children and their teammates pointers and cheers them on.
''I'll give a coach a play here or there,'' said Simpson, 55. ``But I usually don't help unless I'm asked. So now I sit on the sidelines and talk to the parents and coaches.
``It's a pleasure. I've watched about half these kids grow up now for three years. Seen them get through problems, get their act together. Watching them is terrific.''
Although Simpson admits he felt some parents at the school were unhappy with his presence when the family first moved from Los Angeles, he says he ``has never had a problem.''
''I just ignore them,'' Simpson said.
One father said at a volleyball match Saturday that Simpson's presence at games is not a distraction.
Eduardo Cardin, whose daughter Sylvia plays for Gulliver, said he often chats with Simpson about sports.
''He's very well received,'' Cardin said. ``They treat him as a normal person, like any other parent.''
Simpson says his house has become a neighborhood hangout for his children's friends and others. O.J. has welcomed Miami Hurricanes running back Frank Gore and safety Sean Taylor as well as the Miami Killian High football team.
''Any day of the week, you drive by my house and it's filled with kids,'' Simpson said.
``I like the fact that the house is sort of the hangout. I can keep a close eye on them.''
Simpson and his children moved to Kendall in 1999, three years after a judge granted him full custody of Justin and Sydney. Nicole Brown Simpson's parents, Louis and Juditha Brown, were the guardians of their grandchildren while O.J. was on trial.
Despite his acquittal in criminal court, a civil jury held Simpson liable for the killings of his ex-wife and friend Ronald Goldman and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.
He has not worked since then and has said he cannot afford to pay.
He maintains that he is innocent of the killings. Simpson receives a monthly NFL pension: reportedly $16,000, net.
HIGH VISIBILITY
Simpson hasn't been able to stay out of the headlines -- girlfriend troubles, a road-rage trial, a federal raid of his home for the drug Ecstasy, and a recent boating ticket accusing him of speeding through a manatee zone in a power boat.
Justin Simpson said he doesn't worry about his father's notoriety. He says he doesn't watch the news and supports his father fully.
''I never got mad at my dad,'' Justin said. ``I've always been supportive. I never doubted him. I am proud of my dad. He's made it through a lot of tough things. Tough times.''
Although he spends most afternoons on the golf course, Simpson says he has been spending a lot of time writing, although not for publication. The topics, he says, range from the war in Afghanistan to troubled Minnesota Vikings receiver Randy Moss.
His more serious concerns, however, are with his children.
He says watching them play sports has been nerve-racking.
''Last year in a big basketball game, Justin had to go to the free-throw line with his team down one point and no time left,'' Simpson said. ``He missed the first one -- and I tell you, I almost had a heart attack.
``Thankfully, he made the second shot and they won in overtime. But the point is, I think that may have been the single most nervous time in my life. More than anything -- and I mean more than anything.''
Herald staff writer David Ovalle contributed to this report.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/4184977.htm
j/k...
