Oj Bronco Chase Driver
Cowlings was the driver, Simpson his passenger, in a white 1993 Ford Bronco. During the chase, Al Cowlings; Mike Curtis; Al Darby; John Demarie; Don Dufek;.
Jun 17, 2014 Video embedded For Ford s Bronco, O.J. Simpson chase may have helped sales. In 1994, the utility vehicle became a household name and Ford вЂ.
Allen Greg Cowlings born June 16, 1947, in San Francisco, California is a retired American football player, known for his role in the saga of O. J. Simpson s murder trial. He played in the NFL between 1970 and 1979 for the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and San Francisco 49ers. Cowlings was taken 5th overall in the first round by the Buffalo Bills in the 1970 NFL Draft. 1 2
Contents
1 Early life
2 Football career
3 O. J. Simpson case
4 Personal life
5 References in popular culture
6 Notes
7 References
Early life edit
Cowlings grew up in San Francisco s Potrero Hill neighborhood, where he was a member of the Superiors social club which held meeting at the Booker T Washington Community CenterHe attended Galileo High School, where he played football. He later attended City College of San Francisco, where he also played on the football team. 3 4
Football career edit
Cowlings was named an All-American defensive tackle after his senior year at USC. 5 During that senior year, the 1969 Trojan team went undefeated, and Cowlings led a powerful defensive line which was nicknamed The Wild Bunch after the movie. 5
Cowlings was drafted 5th in the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He was a starter his first three years in Buffalo, but he was traded to Houston after the 1972 season. He played all 14 games for the Oilers in both 1973 and 1974, but he played just 5 games in 1975 for the Rams. In 1976, he became a charter member of the Seahawks, after being signed off the waiver wire when the Rams released him at the end of the pre-season. He played just one game, due to an injury he suffered while playing for the Rams in an exhibition game against the Seahawks. 5 He returned to the Rams in 1977, skipped the 1978 season, and finished his career in 1979 with the 49ers.
O. J. Simpson case edit
Cowlings and Simpson were teammates at Galileo High School, San Francisco City College, USC, the Buffalo Bills, and the San Francisco 49ers; they eventually became close friends and confidantes. Cowlings is most famous for his role in Simpson s capture on June 17, 1994, after a low-speed chase by police on Los Angeles freeways, after the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman several days before. Cowlings claims that Simpson pointed a gun to his own head, demanding he be taken to his home or Simpson would kill himself. The slow-speed chase was televised on live TV from helicopter cameras, and it is estimated it was viewed by approximately 95 million people in the U.S. alone. Cowlings was the driver, Simpson his passenger, in a white 1993 Ford Bronco. During the chase, Cowlings famously told the police My name is AC. You know who I am, God damn it. The chase ended at Simpson s mansion in Brentwood, where he then surrendered to police. 1 6 Cowlings was charged with a felony for aiding a fugitive, and released with 250,000 bail. 7 District Attorney Gil Garcetti said, however, that Cowlings would not be charged due to a lack of evidence. During the criminal trial for Simpson, Cowlings surprised the nation s media with a press conference a block from the Court house to announce his 900 phone number for questions to be answered by him to the public about everything except the murder and trial. Cowlings retained Beverly Hills public relations firm Edward Lozzi Associates to conduct the press conference without revealing the reason or itinerary. Lozzi introduced Cowlings and his attorney Donald Re. Cowlings read a 1 minute prepared statement announcing the 900 number which was simultaneously unveiled visually in and around the entire room to the worlds media. Reports that Cowlings realized over a million dollars from this 2 dollars plus a minute cost 900 number could never be validated. This press conference was in fact the only time Cowlings officially spoke to the media about anything.
Personal life edit
Cowlings is a member of the 2009 USC Athletic Hall of Fame class along with Junior Seau, Rodney Peete, and John Robinson. 8
References in popular culture edit
On the song Natural Born Killaz by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, Ice Cube states: I m down with Dre like A.C. is down with O.J.
Notes edit
a b Swift 1994
Marcin 1971, p. 56.
Ebony Nov 1974, p. 170.
Ebony Nov 1977, pp. 170†172.
de Lama, George June 21, 1994 Cowlings, Simpson Inseparable, Even As Teens. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 7-1-2014.
Wolf, Craig June 19, 1994 The Simpson Case: The Friend; A Lifelong Loyalty, True to the End. New York Times. Retrieved 7-1-2014.
a b c
Bugliosi 1997, p. 126.
O.J. Simpson s Bizarre Saga In Ex-Wife s Murder Ends In Not Guilty Plea. Jet. 1994-07-04. p.В 4. Retrieved March 26, 2011.В
2009 Inductees For USC Athletic Hall Of Fame Inductees Announced
References edit
Annual Football Roundup: The Defensive Backs. Ebony: 163. Nov 1977.В
Marcin, Joe; Spink, C.C. Johnson, ed. 1971. Sports News Football register. The Sporting News.В
Rhoden, Bill Nov 1974. Black Quarterbacks: One Foot in the Door. Ebony: 166.В
Swift, E. M. 27 June 1994. Friends To The End. Sports Illustrated.В
Bugliosi, Vincent 1997. Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder. Island Books. ISBNВ 978-0-440-22382-5.В
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php.title Al_Cowlings oldid 691008758
Categories: Sportspeople from San Francisco, CaliforniaPlayers of American football from California1947 birthsLiving peopleAmerican football defensive tacklesAmerican football defensive endsAmerican football linebackersAmerican football defensive linemenBuffalo Bills playersSeattle Seahawks playersHouston Oilers playersLos Angeles Rams playersSan Francisco 49ers playersUSC Trojans football playersO. J. Simpson murder caseCity College of San Francisco Rams football players.
Jun 10, 2014 Video embedded Nearly 20 years later, here are five things that might surprise you about the chase. Fast facts: O.J. Simpson. 1. The Bronco chase and вЂ.
5 surprising facts about O.J. Simpson's slow-speed chase
OJ Simpson. Home Football When the officer approached the Bronco, the driver, who was Simpson s , but the ratings success of the Simpson chase made them вЂ.
Jun 16, 2014 Video embedded Whatever happened to O.J. Simpson s white Ford Bronco. Twenty years ago Tuesday O.J. Simpson and Al Cowlings took the car on an historic police chase.
Al Cowlings
CNN -- Shortly after O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, gruesome killings turned into a manhunt.
Simpson -- a Heisman Trophy winner, NFL Hall-of-Famer and actor -- was missing.
Police declared Simpson a fugitive, and hours later, the infamous low-speed chase began.
Approximately p.m. on June 17, 1994, police saw Simpson on the expressway in a white Ford Bronco driven by his best friend and former teammate, Al Cowlings. Simpson was riding in the back, and he reportedly had a gun.
With the cavalcade of police cars in pursuit, TV helicopters swooped in to join the chase. The 60-mile, low-speed pursuit through southern Los Angeles would go down in television history.
Nearly 20 years later, here are five things that might surprise you about the chase.
Fast facts: O.J. Simpson
1. The Bronco chase and subsequent not guilty verdict are among the most memorable TV moments in the past 50 years.
The Simpson verdict was the third most universally impactful televised moment of the last 50 years behind the September 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to a survey by Nielsen and Sony.
Big shift in attitude toward O.J. Simpson
Simpson s white Bronco chase came in sixth, behind the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the death of Osama bin Laden.
The survey scored each big televised event based on how many people viewed the event live, how many could recall details about where they were during the event and how many people who could remember talking about it with other people.
READ: High-profile acquittals
2. The Bronco chase dominated sports coverage on a day with major sports news.
On June 17, 1994, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer played his last round at the U.S. Open, the World Cup opened in Chicago, the Rangers celebrated winning the Stanley Cup, the Knicks played game five of the NBA finals against the Houston Rockets, and Ken Griffey Jr. tied Babe Ruth for the most home runs hit before June 30.
ESPN covered the other big sporting news, but jumped back and forth for frequent updates on the chase. NBC continued coverage of the NBA finals, but the game appeared in a small box in the corner while Tom Brokaw anchored coverage of the Bronco chase.
3. Domino s Pizza reported record sales of pizza delivery during the chase.
Presumably because people were glued to the TV set, not wanting to miss anything, they ordered pizza.
It was a record night at the time. It was dinner time on the West Coast and 9 p.m. on the East. People were fascinated and didn t want to miss it. It was as big as a Super Bowl Sunday up to that point, said Tim McIntyre, vice president of corporate communications for Domino s Pizza.
4. Robert Kardashian, father of Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob, was O. J. Simpson s friend. He read a note by Simpson on the day of the chase and served with his defense team during Simpson s murder trial.
When Simpson failed to turn himself in on the day of the case, Robert Kardashian read a letter by Simpson to the media. This letter was interpreted by many as a suicide note:
To whom it may concern, first, everyone understand I had nothing to do with Nicole s murder. Don t feel sorry for me. I ve had a great life, great friends. Please think of the real O.J. and not this lost person. Thanks for making my life special. I hope I helped yours, he read.
5. O.J. Simpson said he was not running, but he had some interesting items with him when the chase ended.
During the chase, on the phone with LAPD Detective Tom Lange, Simpson said, you let the police know, you let them all know, I wasn t running.
When Cowlings pulled into Simpson s driveway, police were waiting. The sun set, and Simpson was still holed up in the car. Police didn t approach the Bronco. Simpson had a gun, and they wanted to avoid a potentially violent end. Finally, two hours after police first spotted him, Simpson emerged from the Bronco. Clutching family photos, he staggered out of his car and collapsed into officers arms.
In Cowlings pockets, police found almost 9,000 in cash. In the Bronco, police found a fake goatee and mustache with a bottle of makeup adhesive and receipts from a beauty store, along with Simpson s passport and the gun.
Where were you when the O.J. chase was going on. Tell us what you remember in the comments below.
CNN s Kyra Phillips, Ken Shiffman, Shawna Callebs and Keith Lovely, Jr. contributed to this report.
