At the start of each football game, a coin is flipped, representing the contrast in sports and life. Good, bad, right, wrong, win, lose. It’s all present in the recent stories of two NFL legends.
Discussing a positive reputation that turned negative. That was my response upon hearing the news of Orenthal James Simpson's death.
Also known as O.J. or “The Juice,” he earned the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Awards and graduated from Southern Cal in 1968. After being chosen first by the Buffalo Bills in the NFL draft, he had limitless potential.
During his 11-year professional career with the Bills (1969-1977) and San Francisco 49ers (1978-1979), O.J. ran for 11,236 yards and 61 touchdowns and caught 203 passes for 2,142 yards and 14 touchdowns. A five-time First Team All-Pro, he set a record in 1973 as the first player to rush for 2,000 yards, the only player to do so in a 14-game season. He finished with 2,003 yards and won the NFL Most Valuable Player and Bert Bell Player of the Year Awards.
The four-time NFL rushing yards leader, three-time AFC Offensive Player of the Year, and two-time NFL rushing touchdowns leader was also a member of the NFL 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, the Bills Wall of Fame, and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Simpson appeared in the significant television series “Roots” and various movies including “The Towering Inferno” and “The Naked Gun” trilogy with Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley and George Kennedy. O.J. also worked as a commentator on “Monday Night Football” and “The NFL on NBC.”
The cheerful celebrity spokesperson for Hertz also hosted “Saturday Night Live.”
Most people know what happened in 1994 when Simpson was arrested and charged with murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Then there was the infamous, slow-speed, white Ford Bronco police chase seen live on TV by more than 90 million viewers.
Simpson was tried and acquitted in a court of law. Prosecutors had uncovered 62 incidents of abusive behavior by Simpson toward Nicole Brown, but O.J.’s legal dream team won the case. His legal troubles were far from over, though, and he was found liable for the murders in a 1997 civil suit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the Goldman and Brown families.
Arrested in 2007 for a robbery of sports memorabilia he claimed was originally stolen from him, Simpson was found guilty, sentenced to 33 years in prison, and released after serving nearly nine years.
Simpson passed away on April 10, 2024, still maintaining his overall innocence, but with millions of people believing he was guilty of murder. In his “The Tonight Show” monologue, Jimmy Fallon captured the complexity and dual nature of Simpson’s life, stating, “As we speak, someone is trying to write the most impossible eulogy of all time.”
Instead of being remembered as an all-time football great, his legacy will forever be tarnished by two lives tragically lost, his arrests, trials and prison term.
On the other side of the coin, we have the fun-loving and likable Rob Gronkowski.
Gronk also spent 11 seasons in the NFL, with nine on the New England Patriots and two with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New England picked him in the second round of the 2010 draft with the 42nd pick after back surgery affected his performance during his junior year at Arizona.
That was a stroke of luck for the Patriots, as Gronk had all the skills, excelling as a tight end who could receive passes and also effectively block.
When he retired after the 2021 season, his impressive achievements included being a four-time Super Bowl champion, five Pro Bowls, four-time First Team All Pro, PFWA 2010 All-Rookie team, 2011 NFL receiving touchdowns leader, 2014 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Patriots All-2010s and All Dynasty Teams, NFL 2010s All-Decade team, and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Gronk set NFL records for most receiving touchdowns in a season (17) and total touchdowns in a season by a tight end (18). He caught 621 passes for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns, and added another 98 catches, 1,389 yards, and 15 touchdowns in the playoffs. He was also the first tight end to lead the league in receiving touchdowns (2011) and the first tight end with more than 1,000 receiving yards. His future place in the Professional Football Hall of Fame is secure.
Gronk is also popular in the media, appearing in many films and TV programs, serving as a celebrity spokesperson for various products and companies, and working as an NFL analyst for Fox Sports during the 2019 season following his initial retirement. He has appeared on “Shark Tank,” competed on “The Masked Singer,” co-hosted “Fox’s New Year’s Eve with Steve Harvey”, and co-hosted Nickelodeon’s “Kids’ Choice Awards.”
On Patriot’s Day 2024, Gronk served as marshal for the Boston Marathon and threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Red Sox game. In typical Gronk fashion, and remembering many ceremonial first pitches gone bad, he didn’t throw the ball to the catcher. He opted to spike it into the pitching mound, reminding everyone of his famous touchdown spike celebrations. The crowd, of course, went wild.
Gronkowski’s charitable work is impressive. The Gronk Nation Youth Foundation “helps kids stay actively involved in school and sports and provide them with the tools needed to help them follow their dreams and live a happy and more successful life.” He was recognized with the Patriots’ Ron Burton Community Service Award, USO Merit Award and the Make-A-Wish Hero Award.
Gronk is creating an impressive legacy of service and helping people in need. That’s the right kind of life to lead.
