NEWS UPDATE: American hero lets us down

O.J. Simpson had everything going for him.

America threw the Heisman Trophy winner its heart, and he caught it. He carried it through airports in his classic Hertz commercials. He carried it to the cheery heights of laughter in his hilarious role in the Naked Gun series.

No one could stop him: Defenders on the college or pro football league fields couldn't stop him. A group of conspiring, racist cops couldn't stop him. And yet it is this same indomitable spirit that we have all come to love and admire that drove this tragic hero to what may finally be his downfall.

Would a few sleazy sports memorabilia collectors stop Simpson from taking back what is his? No. But in a sad, ironic twist, at 60, Simpson would stumble just short of the goal line.

Simpson brought a group of armed men with him to ensure the memorabilia black marketeers wouldn't try to escape with his goods, or, God forbid, attack him. He brought them so he wouldn't have to call the cops - would you, if they had tried to pin the murder of your beloved on you?

But however rational, Simpson's actions have been irresponsible for a moral authority and role model of his caliber. He has let down a nation he has inspired for years, and what's worse, it was before he could find the person who brutally murdered the mother of his children (though a recent book shows the search took its toll on his soul and plunged his imagination into dark, gritty, albeit fictional places).

And for this hotel room mishap, Simpson could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"The four men face charges of conspiracy to commit a kidnapping; coercion with a deadly weapon; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit robbery; and two counts each of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. They also were each charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit a crime."

To see the police report detailing the dramatic fall from grace of this great American hero, see the Smoking Gun.

I would like to dedicate the comments for this post to Simpson; treat it as you would his Facebook wall. Fill it with love and prayers.