THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406180215
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: 940618 LENGTH: Medium
Brown, after all, was a poor role model. O.J. was one of the best.
{REST} As the years passed and Simpson's legs carried him through airports and a string of B-movies, we saw in Juice the same grace and zestfulness that he brought to the field.
Simpson seemed to make the transition from jock hero to a jack-of-all-trades celebrity better than most, and we loved him for it.
No sports hero of recent times has been more accessible or likable than O.J. None was more genuine or comfortable with his celebrity status.
People who have watched him at play, or in his commercials, or as a commentator for NFL games, feel as if they know him. But what we knew was a charming athlete, the Heisman Trophy come to life. Later, we knew the Hertz salesman. The man with the 1,000-watt smile. The public man.
We were spared a glimpse of his private demons.
Until now.
Today, Simpson is characterized in some circles as the most famous American ever accused of a capital crime. At the very least, he is our most popular murder suspect.
In the jaded late-20th century, we are accustomed to the sight of famous athletes or ex-athletes self-destructing. Drugs do in most of our heroes. For Magic Johnson, sex was the drug. His retirement from the NBA after contracting HIV was said to be the most shocking sports story of our generation.
But that was then. Whether tragic Magic is portrayed as a victim or a philanderer, sexual recklessness does not rate with a brutal, bitter waste of life.
In dealing with the sorrow a lot of people feel for Simpson right now, you start with this image we had of the man. And of the place great athletes hold in our society.
In recent years, Simpson lived the Hollywood life in a quintessential Hollywood neighborhood. After outgaining Brown on the field, he outperformed him in Tinseltown, as well.
But if O.J. had been just another show-biz star (a real actor instead of the jock kind), if he hadn't assumed a special role in our lives, would so many have given him the benefit of the doubt as one fact after another leaked out about the double murder?
Simpson pleaded no contest to wife beating in 1989. Police report that Nicole Simpson had been battered repeatedly by her husband during their seven-year marriage.
Some of us already knew this. Others of us were reminded of Simpson's obsessive behavior when this murder case broke.
And yet, Simpson's fans - his adoring public - were reluctant to give up their image of O.J. as a hero. They remain reluctant. Such is the power of myth.
Now we know. Simpson's transition from the field to real life wasn't as smooth as we thought. If this is not the understatement of the year, it will have to do for now.
Could it be that O.J. is a better actor than anyone gave him credit for?
If he did stab to death the mother of his two children, how did he manage to pull off the touching scene at Nicole Simpson's funeral? Taken in the context of what the police tell us, the sight of a dignified O.J. at the church, a child in each hand, is eerie.
No wonder America is riveted by a case made even more bizarre by O.J.'s open-field run from justice.
On a subconscious level, perhaps many millions of Simpson's sympathizers are asking themselves how close any of us are to the edge. What would it take to make us step over that line?
In this image we have of O.J., he is racing free over a snowy field. Or, depending on your age, through airports.
Real life is more complicated, though, not to mention messier. Role models, like commercials, need updating.
by CNB