O. J. Simpson played football.
Nicole Brown Simpson ( ; May 19 , 1959 -- June 12 , 1994 ) was the ex-wife of professional football player O. J. Simpson and the mother of their two children , Sydney and Justin . Orenthal James `` O. J. '' Simpson ( born July 9 , 1947 ) , nicknamed The Juice , is a former American football running back , broadcaster , actor , and convicted armed robber and kidnapper . In 1995 , Simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman after a lengthy and internationally publicised trial .