On a bright spring day in 1967 at Santa Barbara’s seaside La Playa Stadium, a field of collegiate sprinters lined up for the start of the Easter Relays 100-yard dash. Standing tall among them was OJ Simpson, a new face in a USC Trojans track singlet, having recently transferred from City College of San Francisco.
At the crack of the starter’s pistol, Simpson exploded out of the blocks, sprinted powerfully down the dirt track and hit the tape in a winning time of 9.5 seconds. I was watching from the stands with a UCSB classmate from Los Angeles, and he had visions of grandeur for USC football, knowing that Simpson had been recruited to become Troy’s next tailback.
And so it happened. OJ took the college football world by storm, piling up the yardage with dazzling runs, including a 64-yard burst of broken-field artistry against UCLA. “OJ” or “Juice” became the most recognizable monikers in sports. Another play on his name was uttered by a Notre Dame coach: “Oh Jesus, there he goes again.”