From The Associated Press :

O.J. Simpson plans to root like crazy at the Orange Bowl.

“I’ll be in the stands cheering as loud as anybody for USC,” Simpson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday.

“I can’t wait. I always follow SC — always have, always will,” he said.

Simpson said he hasn’t seen his alma mater play in person for about 10 years, though he has watched most of the Trojans’ games on television during that time.

But the lure of seeing No. 1 Southern California take on No. 2 Oklahoma for the national title Tuesday night was too great for Simpson. The former Heisman Trophy winner lives about 30 miles southwest of Pro Player Stadium.

Simpson said he was surprised USC was favored in this game because the Sooners have more experience. Yet he thought a freshman, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, could make a huge difference.

“He’s the one player who’s probably going to have the greatest impact on the game,” Simpson said. “You can be in the perfect defense and it doesn’t matter, he’ll make an adjustment, he’ll make a move and he’ll score. He’s the type of athlete that you can’t defend. He scares me to death.”

Yes, indeed, Peterson is terrifying. Like Mark Furhman in spikes, you might say.


(Simpson shown explaining to Carson Palmer that the joke that began with “What did Michael Jackson say when he heard that OJ had been arrested?”, while a clever way to combine the miseries of two prominent pop culture icons in one gag, was extremely hurtful just the same.)