O.J. Simpson

Born Orenthal James Simpson on July 9, 1947, in Putrero Hill, a low-income neighborhood outside of San Francisco, California, Simpson's childhood pointed to everything but a career in athletics. His father left the family while Simpson was still a toddler and his mother worked at a psychiatric ward to support her four children. Simpson developed rickets soon after birth and the disease left him pigeon-toed and bowlegged. Unable to afford surgery to correct the affliction, Simpson endured the wrath of his childhood friends who took to calling him "Pencil Pins" because of his legs. His early interest in sports was encouraged by his mother, however, and combined with his unfettered determination he would eventually achieve the excellence and acceptance he desired in his youth.

During Simpson's adolescence his experiments on the wrong side of the law would lead to a life changing meeting with San Francisco Giant hero Willie Mays. Simpson, along with friend Al "A.C." Cowlings, joined a local gang known as the Persian Warriors. After getting caught stealing, a neighborhood youth leader asked Mays to spend an afternoon with the teenage Simpson. He would recall it later in life as the first time he realized that he could achieve his dreams.

Simpson would quickly gain his first taste of the adulation that he would enjoy throughout so much of his life. Simpson and Cowlings were named to the all-city team in high school and were their team's star players. Simpson, however, didn't have the grades to go on to a reputable school and instead played at City College of San Francisco. At City College, Simpson quickly garnered notice averaging 9.3 yards per carry and scoring fifty-four touchdowns. Of the fifty colleges that tried to recruit him after his sophomore year, Simpson chose the University of Southern California. He married his high school sweetheart, Maguerite Whitley, and continued his climb to stardom.