In what I’m sure will come as a shock to everyone, O.J. Simpson doesn’t think breaking the rules is a huge deal.
In one of the notorious accused murderer’s fairly regular installments of sports analysis, Simpson began by lamenting last weekend’s loss by his alma mater, USC. But then he quickly pivoted to the Mchigan sign-stealing scandal. It’s an alleged offense that Simpson doesn’t seem to think is a very big deal.
“All the talk of stealing of signs of Michigan. You know, I looked at Michigan play. They’re so good they don’t really need to steal signs,” Simpson asserted.
“I believe it’s a little overrated, the sign stealing, because most teams 80% of the time, down and distance is going to dictate what that offense is going to do. You know based on down and distance probably 80% of the time, if they’re going to run the ball or going to throw the ball. It can help on first down, I guess, if you’re sure they’re going to run or you’re sure they’re going to throw.”
The Michigan commentary picks up around the 1:28 mark.
Unusual, interesting weekend. pic.twitter.com/kVWIVEl9Mv
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) November 7, 2023
Let’s pick this apart for a second. Is Michigan really good? Yes. Do they need to steal signs? To be good? No. To be great? Maybe. This is all very similar to the steroid argument. Did Barry Bonds need steroids to be good? Absolutely not. Did he need them to be great in the latter stages of his career? Well, he seemed to think so.
Regardless of whether anyone thinks Michigan needed to steal signs, Michigan seems to think they did. Why? Because Michigan isn’t just playing to be good; they’re playing to be great.
And yes, most coaches can intuit what a team will do in a particular situation -even 80% of the time, as Simpson says. However, football is a game of inches and is frequently decided by those plays in the 20, 10, or 5 percent margin.
In any event, I just broke down OJ Simpson’s analysis when all I wanted to do was make fun of him. Anyway, there it is.