One day the tragic story of OJ Simpson’s rise and fall from glory will be made into an epic movie and with stories like this one still coming out, its writers will have plenty of things to pull from.
The man who became the custodian of O.J. Simpson’s 1968 Heisman Trophy was a homeless drug addict who lugged it around the streets for years … TMZ Sports has learned.
We’ve learned the former transient is in the crosshairs of the LAPD — because he’s the guy who called USC a while back inquiring about how much he could get for the trophy.
SC called the LAPD stat and forked over the guy’s cell phone number — and the LAPD went on the hunt.
We found the guy … and he tells TMZ Sports he came into possession of the trophy in 1996, two years after it was stolen from Heritage Hall on the SC campus.
The man swears he’s not the guy who broke the case and made off with the statue (we confirmed he was in jail at the time of the heist) but he did say he traded for it with a burgundy Honda Accord and $500 cash. And get this … the guy he got it from had the Heisman buried in his backyard. Kind of a hint something was up.
Shortly after he got the Heisman, the man says he lost everything and became homeless — yet still held on to his precious cargo.
After moving from street corners to storage lockers for 17 years … the man says he had a radical change of heart in December and decided to return the Heisman — for a reward. He took a photo of the trophy (seen above) to prove he’s legit.
The Heisman is in the LAPD’s possession and they’re still looking for whoever stole the trophy from the University of Southern California’s campus.
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to the feature film.
H/T: BSO