Convicted felon O.J. Simpson, granted parole by the Nevada Board of Prisons and eligible for release on Oct. 1, remains on the invitation list for the American Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies.
“All Hall of Famers are invited to attend the annual enshrinement,” Hall of Fame officials said when asked if Simpson would be welcome at the ceremonies upon release.
Simpson would still be imprisoned when this year’s ceremony is conducted on Aug. 5 at the Hall of Fame facility in Canton, Ohio, but he would be on next year’s invitation list.
Simpson, 70, was unanimously granted parole on Thursday after serving almost nine years of a 33-year sentence for a 2008 armed robbery conviction.
The Hall of Fame running back was enshrined in 1985, but has not attended enshrinement ceremonies since his own induction that year.
Hall of Fame bylaws stipulate that only a player’s on-field achievements are considered as the criteria for enshrinement, so Simpson’s bust remains on display in Canton, Ohio.
Simpson rushed for 11,236 yards over an 11-year NFL career and was the first running back in league history to top 2,000 rushing yards in a season, gaining 2,003 yards in 1973 for the Buffalo Bills — becoming the only player to crack 2,000 rushing yards in a 14-game NFL season.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB