Opinion: This Time Around No One is Rooting for O.J. Simpson

Twenty-three years ago, I sat across a table from O.J. Simpson, sharing breakfast at a luxury hotel and marveling at the man's incredible celebrity. On that day in New York City he seemed to have it all: fame, fortune, unbelievable star power and a stunningly attractive girlfriend named Nicole Brown. I was on assignment from a newspaper, dispatched to write one of those where-is-he-now stories.

Of course, everyone knew what Simpson was up to at the time. Years removed from NFL stardom he was still on television pitching products, announcing sports and maintaining a jet-setting, multimillion-dollar lifestyle. But my editor wanted an update just the same. Eric Dickerson, of the Los Angeles Rams, was about to smash Simpson's NFL single-season rushing record. So while the rest of the sporting press chased after Dickerson, I was in New York dining alone with The Juice.

I remembered that breakfast the other night as I again found myself looking at Simpson in wonderment. This time, I was seated on a couch in my living room and Simpson appeared across from me on a television screen, waiting for a judge to decide if he would be ordered to stand trial on robbery and kidnapping charges in Las Vegas.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen, I thought.

Back in 1984, as I was meeting Simpson for the first time, I never would have guessed that he would later become perhaps the most famous criminal defendant in American history. He would stand trial for the horrific 1994 slaying of Nicole, whom he married in 1985 and later divorced, and her friend, Ron Goldman. He was exonerated in one of the most racially charged trials of all time - only to end up back in court on these latest charges that could send him to jail for life.

What was it that I had missed about Simpson 23 years ago? I had spent more than an hour with him over breakfast, doing my job as a journalist but also marveling over his celebrity as Carrie Rozelle, wife of then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, waved at Simpson from across the room. As I peered into Simpson's eyes that day, I saw nothing to suggest I was looking into the eyes of a person who would later arguably become one of the most hated men in America.