'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison pays more than what guest wanted for OJ Simpson signed helmet
O.J. Simpson is one of the most controversial figures in recent American history, who went from being a celebrated sportsman to being accused of murder. On "Pawn Stars," a vehicle used by Simpson in an infamous car chase to evade arrest has already turned up before. During another episode of the show, a helmet signed by the football legend who fell from grace caught Rick Harrison's attention.
As opposed to the norm on “Pawn Stars,” it received a higher valuation than what the guest had expected. It was a Heisman helmet that had been signed by 28 Heisman Trophy winners. One of the biggest names on that helmet was that of O.J. Simpson. Rick Harrison seemed interested in the item, but there was just one slight problem.
The guest had a certificate of authenticity, but it was issued by a company that had gone out of business. Therefore, the 60-year-old decided to call in an expert to confirm that the signatures were genuine and to ascertain how much the helmet was worth. The guest had initially asked for $800 for the item, which had seemed like a reasonable price to the pawn shop owner. However, he had no idea that he was about to shell out more money.
The expert confirmed that the helmet’s signatures were indeed authentic and said that it would be worth $2,500. The guest certainly wasn’t expecting this and increased his asking price to $1,800. After some negotiation, the final price that was decided upon was $1,450. It was a lot less than what the helmet was valued at, but a lot higher than what the guest had asked for in the first place.
Out of all the signatures on the helmet, Simpson’s was perhaps the most popular. After having a stellar career and retiring from football, the former Buffalo Bills player was embroiled in a widely covered murder case. It was alleged that he had killed his former wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in 1994. While the former football player was cleared of all charges, people still have a hard time believing that he was innocent.
One of the biggest reasons for that was the infamous car chase. Simpson was in a white Ford Bronco driven by his friend Al Cowlings, which was chased by the police. The whole thing was televised on televisions all across the country and became a topic of discussion everywhere. The chase happened after the football player had decided against turning himself in for questioning regarding his wife’s murder.
Simpson was eventually cleared of all charges due to a lack of solid evidence against him. However, he was arrested in 2007 and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. He was sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment with a minimum of nine years without parole. The former footballer finally got out of prison on parole in 2017.
