"He is one of the original victims of cancel culture!" , "Well he's good at canceling peoples lives" - OJ Simpson's message for Elon Musk has NFL fans divided

Now that Elon Musk has purchased Twitter, OJ Simpson has reached out to him with a request. Simpson, unlike other former NFL players, is not verified by a blue tick. He reached out to the new Twitter owner to correct what he believed was a gross omission.

Now, while we cannot second guess how Elon Musk will react to it, one must delve deeper into the background of the situation at hand here.

In 2007, OJ Simpson was charged with robbery and kidnapping and convicted in 2008 and sentenced to at least nine years in prison without parole with a maximum sentence of 33 years. He was released on parole after serving the minimum duration of his sentence. His criminal conviction is perhaps not given the verified tag that he so seeks, even though OJ Simpson will argue that he has served his time. But this was not the first time he had a brush with the law.

OJ Simpson was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994. After a highly publicized trial, he was acquitted. Following that result, the families of the alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit, where he was found responsible for wrongful deaths and asked to pay $33.5 million in 1997. He moved to Florida to avoid paying most of the liability. Hence, in this particular case, his detractors will claim that he has not paid his dues literally. The dual nature of the results in civil and criminal suits divides opinion among people even today.

NFL fans themselves are conflicted in their responses. Here is a sampling of some of the tweets, showing that the wider world is as divided as always on this topic.

OJ Simpson's NFL Career

Before all the civil culpability in murder and conviction for robbery and kidnapping, OJ Simpson was best known for his football. He played for USC and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. Selected first overall in the 1969 NFL Draft, he played until 1977 with the Buffalo Bills. During the 1973 season, he became the first running back in the history of the NFL to rush for more than 2000 yards in a season. He remains the only player to have achieved this feat in a 14-game season. He played for two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers before retiring in 1979. For his efforts in football, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.