In a culture awash in social media, we like to think a superstar can no longer shield his true persona from the public the way Simpson did. But are we actually any closer to the athletes we admire and celebrate?
Ezra Edelman’s five-part documentary that aired on ESPN last week, O.J.: Made in America, is remarkable as a case study in myriad issues, including but not limited to race, poverty and criminal justice. But what jumped out to me was one particular interview with Simpson filmed several years before his wife Nicole Brown’s murder, and what it says about the athletes we think we know.