TAMPA, Fla. - Something’s happening at Middleton High School.

And former Tigers football head coach Harry Hubbard can’t believe his eyes.

Middleton is getting a brand new turf field. When Coach Hubbard led the Tigers from 2002 to 2008, they played on mostly dirt. But they did some special things on that field. Because they had a special player, O.J. Murdock.

“He woke the community up,” Hubbard said. “He was a super player. He had god-given talent. I believe that he made the players around him play better.”

Abe Brown Stadium was where O.J. shined. It was also where he chose to end his life. The former Middleton High multi-sport star was found in his car just outside the fencing surrounding the stadium, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was a shot heard around the Bay Area as those that knew O.J. best were left to wonder why?

“I was truly, first of all hurt,” Hubbard said. “Secondly I was surprised. I couldn’t figure out why or what caused that.”

How could someone so talented with so many people who loved him be so lost?

It was sports where O.J. found himself. He put on a show on the football field and on the track. He was a state champion sprinter, but it was football where he shined the brightest. He signed with Steve Spurrier and the University of South Carolina before making his way to Fort Hays State where he electrified the Tigers faithful helping to set a program attendance record.

His speed and receiving skills landed him a spot with the Tennessee Titans. 

But he never made it to training camp in 2012. After rehabbing an Achilles injury, he was three days late to camp when he drove his car to Middleton High School.

Bill Ward was one of the many left behind wondering why. A former Tampa Tribune sports reporter, Ward covered O.J. during his high school days. 

“The fact that he was just this great athlete and such a great kid,” Ward said. “It’s just crushing. Yeah, like what happened? Why did it happen?”

Ward documented the rise of O.J. in the early 2000’s as he set school records and won gold medals. And he was there for the fall. Ward was one of several people O.J. text messaged before he committed suicide. 

“(He wrote) I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my family. Can’t thank you enough,” Ward said. “I just kept waiting for this to not be true. But it was.”

The headlines surrounding O.J.’s death were the ones that dominated the conversation for a long time. Now, 10 years later, his friends and family want people to remember all the good that O.J. did and was.

“I want them to understand that O.J. was O.J.,” he said. “He was human, that he was a good person. He believed in God. And he was just a great person to be around. Truly, he was a great person as well as a great player.”