Who is 2018's O.J.?
 

my granddaughter is in high school and recently has been watching The People vs. O.j. Simpson on netflix. She's become fascinated with the story and since i lived through it, has been asking me a lot of questions. the other day she came up with a good one: if it happened today, who would be the equivalent of O.J.? as in what famous person today closely matches up to the status O.J. had at the time of his infamy?

she mentioned Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, but I said they're too famous to be compared to O.J. at that time. We threw around a bunch of names and i finally settled on Charles Barkley.

-- former athlete who was a star

-- lots of exposure on tv

-- has made appearances in movies and tv shows

the big difference, i said, is barkley is more controversial than o.j. was (before the murders, of course).

who would be your pick?

Barkley's not bad. Even though he's a contemporary of OJ, Terry Bradshaw comes to mind.

Dennis Rodman

Shaquille O'Neal. He checks off all the boxes the OP named: was a huge star, lots of exposure on commercials and movies,

Peyton Manning

Derek Jeter


Completely different personalities, but similar levels of fascination.

no doubt over a spat concerning his Nobel Peace Prize. :eek:

Didn't he already kill Tokyo?

Shaquille O'Neal. OJ was of similar fame, and OJ was very well liked and not at all controversial. He was a good looking glamour guy, but that he played self-deprecating and very funny roles in the Naked Gun movies made him appealing to the public. I thought he was great in those movies. Not one to one with OJ, but O'Neal seems to be a likable, nice and funny guy.

I think Peyton Manning is comparable, in that he is well liked, non-controversial, does funny stuff/makes fun of himself and does way too many commercials. The only real backlash against Peyton is that he does so many commercials and endorsement.

Stephen Colbert: Peyton Manning: MVP of Selling Stuff

I think if we are going to try find the athlete who would be most comparable to O.J. at the present time, the choice has to be African-American. Before the murders, O.J. largely transcended race and was seen as affable and non threatening. How many people had any idea O.J. had those domestic violence incidents prior to the murders?

So much of his trial was about race (and celebrity), however. That dichotomy would be completely lost if a white athlete was accused of such a crime.

I agree with Shaq