deathadder
08-13-2005, 01:06 PM
Full transcript of the O.J. interview
See video of the uncut interview on ESPN360.com.
Graham Bensinger: We're going to start out talking some football. Do you still pay close attention to the game?
O.J. Simpson: You know, not quite the way I did in the past. It's not like I'm looking at the rosters of every team, trying to figure out who's going to impact what team. Yeah, I mean in general, the TO situation, Ricky Williams, obviously being in Miami, and having talked to Ricky on occasion over the last year or so; I pay a little attention to that. I'm always watching my 49ers. They have a local kid who I got to know who played for the (Miami Hurriacnes) named Frank Gore, in the third round. I'm curious to see how he's going to do there.
Bensinger: Before we get to that one, I wanted to ask you a little about USC.
Simpson: (chants) We are SC!!!
Bensinger: You know Matt Leinart, could have probably been No. 1 in this year's draft; won the Heisman Trophy yet he elected to go back to college for his senior year ... surprising?
Simpson: Yes, I find it surprised about everybody. I had heard that he had some arm problems, which obviously he did; he had a little bit of surgery, but I don't think that would have impacted his contract if he had gone pro. There's good and bad, obviously if you have a guy of his caliber coming back with the team that they have. They had a couple of kids drop, John Booty and this kid, (Mark) Sanchez, who are excellent quarterbacks; sometimes you may have to look at it in a different way, now these guys have to wait another year for them to get their chance. Pete Carroll has done such a tremendous job with playing the freshmen, getting the kids ready, because he knows for the most part, in 36 months, they're gone. If they're red-shirted or if they're not re-shirted, they're going to be gone.
Bensinger: More significant to you, the Heisman Trophy or NFL MVP?
Simpson: Oh, I would say the Heisman Trophy, maybe a little more than the NFL MVP. They both were very, very important. The Heisman Trophy signifies that you're a part of an exclusive club, that even to the day, I think they're only about 50 something guys, maybe, as members of it in the country and to be voted of all the college players to be voted, far more than there are pro players in the country to be voted, the best in the county, I would say the Heisman, I would probably look at it as slightly a bigger honor. I don't think people would remember who was MVP in the NFL in '86 or '94 or won even. When you've won the Heisman Trophy, you carry a title with you the rest of your life.
Bensinger: Then you were the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Was it sort of a rude awakening for you though, you come into the NFL and there's all this hype and John Rouch basically uses you as a decoy your first couple of years?
Simpson: You know it was interesting; I didn't know that much about Buffalo; I never followed the AFL, other than because when I was in San Francisco, we had Oakland across the bay, so you would see them play occasionally. I was a big 49ers fan, I was a traditionalist in that the old NFL teams, I grew up watching them, following them, so I wanted to be the first guy chosen, as a matter of fact, I knew I would be. I was hoping at the end of the season, the Steelers played against Philly, in a game that they named "The O.J. Bowl," because they thought that the team that would lose would get the first pick in the draft and would draft me. (Rams coach) George Allen had told me, if I went to an NFL team, he would trade for me if he had three No. 1 draft choices and I would be with the Rams. I would still be playing in the Coliseum, in L.A. and even as an old 49ers' fan, the Rams were, you know, arch-enemies. In any event, Buffalo lost to Denver, I think. Buffalo had been a championship team just the previous year; they ended up with the worst record. Of course, then there was no inter-league trading, so, I got drafted by the Bills, and my ego loved the fact that I was the first guy chosen, but the harsh reality was that I went to a part of the country I knew nothing about; you know snow and what was a franchise that was in complete disarray.
Bensinger: And it wasn't until Lou Saban became head coach that you really took off and his cousin Nick has gone from LSU to the Miami Dolphins.
Simpson: I didn't know they were related.
Bensinger: Why do you think that NFL coaches or head coaches, just typically have so much trouble in making that transition from college to the NFL?
Simpson: I don't know if they do. Some guys will come in and Dick Vermeil was a terrific coach in the pros. I guess if I looked around and thought about it, I could find one or two other guys that have done a good job. If there's a problem, it's one thing dealing with college kids; you can talk to them a certain way, and say things to them and get certain reactions. When you start dealing with pro players, you've got some guys, especially when they're making $6 million or $10 million, the average lineman is making $3 million or $4 million, you know, I don't think you can talk to them. They don't expect being spoken to in certain ways. Psychologically, it has more to do with it, than X's and O's, the ability to deal with the players and deal with men and talk and communicating with men, I think has a little more to do with it than your strategy on the football field.
For more click on the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=oj_transcript
See video of the uncut interview on ESPN360.com.
Graham Bensinger: We're going to start out talking some football. Do you still pay close attention to the game?
O.J. Simpson: You know, not quite the way I did in the past. It's not like I'm looking at the rosters of every team, trying to figure out who's going to impact what team. Yeah, I mean in general, the TO situation, Ricky Williams, obviously being in Miami, and having talked to Ricky on occasion over the last year or so; I pay a little attention to that. I'm always watching my 49ers. They have a local kid who I got to know who played for the (Miami Hurriacnes) named Frank Gore, in the third round. I'm curious to see how he's going to do there.
Bensinger: Before we get to that one, I wanted to ask you a little about USC.
Simpson: (chants) We are SC!!!
Bensinger: You know Matt Leinart, could have probably been No. 1 in this year's draft; won the Heisman Trophy yet he elected to go back to college for his senior year ... surprising?
Simpson: Yes, I find it surprised about everybody. I had heard that he had some arm problems, which obviously he did; he had a little bit of surgery, but I don't think that would have impacted his contract if he had gone pro. There's good and bad, obviously if you have a guy of his caliber coming back with the team that they have. They had a couple of kids drop, John Booty and this kid, (Mark) Sanchez, who are excellent quarterbacks; sometimes you may have to look at it in a different way, now these guys have to wait another year for them to get their chance. Pete Carroll has done such a tremendous job with playing the freshmen, getting the kids ready, because he knows for the most part, in 36 months, they're gone. If they're red-shirted or if they're not re-shirted, they're going to be gone.
Bensinger: More significant to you, the Heisman Trophy or NFL MVP?
Simpson: Oh, I would say the Heisman Trophy, maybe a little more than the NFL MVP. They both were very, very important. The Heisman Trophy signifies that you're a part of an exclusive club, that even to the day, I think they're only about 50 something guys, maybe, as members of it in the country and to be voted of all the college players to be voted, far more than there are pro players in the country to be voted, the best in the county, I would say the Heisman, I would probably look at it as slightly a bigger honor. I don't think people would remember who was MVP in the NFL in '86 or '94 or won even. When you've won the Heisman Trophy, you carry a title with you the rest of your life.
Bensinger: Then you were the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Was it sort of a rude awakening for you though, you come into the NFL and there's all this hype and John Rouch basically uses you as a decoy your first couple of years?
Simpson: You know it was interesting; I didn't know that much about Buffalo; I never followed the AFL, other than because when I was in San Francisco, we had Oakland across the bay, so you would see them play occasionally. I was a big 49ers fan, I was a traditionalist in that the old NFL teams, I grew up watching them, following them, so I wanted to be the first guy chosen, as a matter of fact, I knew I would be. I was hoping at the end of the season, the Steelers played against Philly, in a game that they named "The O.J. Bowl," because they thought that the team that would lose would get the first pick in the draft and would draft me. (Rams coach) George Allen had told me, if I went to an NFL team, he would trade for me if he had three No. 1 draft choices and I would be with the Rams. I would still be playing in the Coliseum, in L.A. and even as an old 49ers' fan, the Rams were, you know, arch-enemies. In any event, Buffalo lost to Denver, I think. Buffalo had been a championship team just the previous year; they ended up with the worst record. Of course, then there was no inter-league trading, so, I got drafted by the Bills, and my ego loved the fact that I was the first guy chosen, but the harsh reality was that I went to a part of the country I knew nothing about; you know snow and what was a franchise that was in complete disarray.
Bensinger: And it wasn't until Lou Saban became head coach that you really took off and his cousin Nick has gone from LSU to the Miami Dolphins.
Simpson: I didn't know they were related.
Bensinger: Why do you think that NFL coaches or head coaches, just typically have so much trouble in making that transition from college to the NFL?
Simpson: I don't know if they do. Some guys will come in and Dick Vermeil was a terrific coach in the pros. I guess if I looked around and thought about it, I could find one or two other guys that have done a good job. If there's a problem, it's one thing dealing with college kids; you can talk to them a certain way, and say things to them and get certain reactions. When you start dealing with pro players, you've got some guys, especially when they're making $6 million or $10 million, the average lineman is making $3 million or $4 million, you know, I don't think you can talk to them. They don't expect being spoken to in certain ways. Psychologically, it has more to do with it, than X's and O's, the ability to deal with the players and deal with men and talk and communicating with men, I think has a little more to do with it than your strategy on the football field.
For more click on the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=oj_transcript