Costas: Prior to the Murders O.J. Simpson ‘Was Not Just Admired But Beloved’

CNN contributor Bob Costas said Thursday on “Newsroom” that O.J. Simpson was “beloved” before the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

Anchor Wolf Blitzer asked, “What’s your reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson? How do you think he will be remembered?”

Costas said, Well, as great as he was as a player, and it’s not enough to say he was a Hall of Fame quality player. He was one of the handful of greatest running backs in the history of college football and then the NFL. And he also had a quality that’s difficult to define, and statistics alone don’t capture it.”

He continued, “He was wonderful to watch. And he was always gracious with the press, he was outgoing. He was not just admired but beloved. And then to your point about being a cultural force, this is all prior to the murders, he was, if not the first, he was the first to do it in a big way. An African-American athlete who broke through.”

Costas added, “Part of that was almost exemplified by a little stereotypical sort of blue haired lady saying, ‘Go O.J. go.’ as he dashed through the airport in the rent-a-car commercials and there were zillions of other commercials.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN