Jack Brewer, Ford O’Connell to Newsmax: Simpson Trial Reflected Race Divide

O.J. Simpson left a tangled legacy as an athlete who inspired young Black men and a controversial murder case that encapsulated the “psychology of Black and white America,” former Minnesota Vikings player Jack Brewer and legal expert Ford O’Connell told Newsmax on Thursday.

In a joint interview on Newsline after the announcement of Simpson’s death from cancer at the age of 76, Brewer and O’Connell reflected on the legal and social nuances of Simpson’s infamous murder trial the ended in 1995.

“O.J. Simpson on the football field was one of the greatest to ever do it,” Brewer said. “You’re talking about a man who rushed for 2,000 yards when they only played 14 games. … so he was literally before his time when it came to athleticism.”

Brewer added that “O.J. was the person you wanted to be like as a child growing up. And then to see so much tragedy and chaos [that] happened after that is quite sad and, unfortunately, I don’t think his legacy will ever be able to overcome that.”

O’Connell called the televised murder case against Simpson — in which he was declared innocent by a jury — “the trial of the century.”

“And ‘If it doesn’t fit, you must aquit’ … Lee Bailey and Johnie Cochran will go down in history for the type of defense that they ran,” O’Connell said, referring to Simpson’s legal team using an ill-fitting glove to prove Simpson’s innocence.

“They basically attacked the evidence and police procedure, and they played the race card not only with the jury, but with the people watching at home. It’s a trial we will never forget.

“But I will tell you it wasn’t really a great legal case. What it was — because I do believe he’s a double murderer — was a beautiful case in psychology of black and White America at that time.”