O.J. Simpson might have made more than $600,000 during his eight-plus years in prison.
After Simpson was granted parole on Thursday, that money is now his to spend and can't be touched by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman, who won a civil judgment against Simpson in February 1997 that, including interest, is now worth about $65 million, a Goldman family lawyer told The Associated Press.
Unlike other money he might earn in the future, this particular income is O.J.'s because his NFL pension is protected by state law.
There has been much confusion as to how much Simpson was pulling in for his pension, but it's fairly easy to calculate since the terms of NFL player pensions are public. One factor that adds to the confusion is the uncertainty of the age Simpson elected to begin collecting on his pension.
Let's do the math: Simpson played in the NFL from 1969 to 1979. NFL players who played before 1982 get a monthly pension credit of $250 for every season played. Since Simpson played 11 seasons, that adds up to $2,750 a month.
As part of a settlement in 2011, former players were given an extra monthly payment of $124 per season played before 1975, and $108 per season played in subsequent years. Simpson played six seasons before 1975 (a monthly total of $744) and five seasons after ($540). That's an additional $1,284.
That adds up to $4,034 a month.
That's what O.J. would have made if he elected to start taking out his NFL pension at the age of 55. Getting paid that for 105 months in jail would mean O.J. made $423,570.
But if he waited until 65 -- he just turned 70 -- he would collect 2.619 times that, according to the formula. That would make his pension approximately $10,565 a month.
Based on 57 months in jail after his 65th birthday, that's $602,205.