Former National Football League and NCAA Football star O.J. Simpson died Wednesday after a battle with cancer.
In a weird coincidence, a vehicle forever linked to Simpson also had a headline of its own Wednesday.
What Happened: Automotive giant Ford Motor Co F announced a recall of 42,652 Bronco Sport and Escape vehicles in the U.S. The recall comes due to broken fuel injectors that could leak and induce a fire, according to a report.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Ford plans to incorporate fuel injector leak detection to fix the issue.
The recall involves 2022 and 2023 models of the Ford Bronco Sport and the 2022 model of the Ford Escape.
Ford's Bronco vehicle was introduced in 1965 and five generations of the vehicle were sold from 1966 to 1996 before the vehicle was discontinued due to cited low demand and preference to focus on other vehicles. Ford later resurrected the Bronco line in 2021.
One of the most famous Ford Broncos in history is the one linked to Simpson. Facing charges for murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, Simpson fled police and was involved in a two-hour slow-speed chase on California highways inside a white 1993 Ford Bronco driven by friend Al Cowlings with the football star in the backseat.
The vehicle chase was watched by an estimated 95 million people as television shows and sporting events cut into the chase live, as shared by the New York Post.
Simpson was acquitted of murder in a high-profile televised case and later found liable in a 1997 civil lawsuit owing $33.5 million to the families of the two deceased victims.
Due to a separate incident, Simpson was found guilty of armed robbery in 2007 and was sentenced to nine years in prison before being paroled in 2017.
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Forever Linked: While Simpson's death was not announced until Thursday, April 11, his family confirmed that he passed away Wednesday, April 10.
In a weird coincidence, Simpson was once again linked to the famous Bronco vehicle.
Depending on who you ask, the Bronco was discontinued due to Simpson's famous police chase with sales declining and a possible negative connotation for the vehicle line.
Ford distanced itself from that notion at the time.
"We had decided to move away from the two-door, two-row, large SUV,' Ford Communications Manager Mark Schirmer said years ago, as shared by USA Today. "It was already fading in customer popularity, long before O.J. made it a celebrity."
Ford focused on larger vehicles such as the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition to compete with General Motors and vehicles like the GMC Suburban, according to the report.
Sales of the Bronco were 37,000 in 1994. In 1996, when the vehicle was discontinued sales were around 28,000.
Ford brought back the Bronco line in 2021 and its 2020 announcement was also linked to Simpson. Ford shared a teaser announcement that the Bronco would be revealed on July 9, 2020, which was in fact Simpson's birthday, as shared by Jalopnik.
Nicole Brown Simpson's sister Tanya Brown told the Detroit Free Press at the time that the July 9 Bronco reveal date wasn't funny, even if it was an accident.
"Is that on purpose? My first reaction was, ‘Are you kidding me?' Brown said.
Ford later changed the reveal date to July 13, 2020, in a move that could have been purely coincidental or done to avoid potentially linking the comeback of the iconic vehicle to the person who may have helped it be discontinued years prior.
Photo: 1990 Ford Bronco, photo by Bejara 70 via Wikimedia Commons
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