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O.J. Simpson's Stolen Heisman Trophy Recovered By Police 20 Years Later

The long-awaited mystery behind the Heisman Trophy has been solved.

Who needs the replica, the real trophy has been found.
Who needs the replica, the real trophy has been found.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles police say they've recovered O.J. Simpson's 1968 Heisman Trophy that was stolen from a display case at USC over 20 years ago, according to the Los Angeles Times. That mysterious trophy, owned and preserved by the university, was stolen back in July of 1994 and was finally recovered in December.

At the time of the theft, police believed two thieves were responsible. Soon after, the break-in was reported to LAPD, but the items were never recovered and the thieves were never identified.

The announcement Tuesday comes a month after detectives had gone to court seeking a search warrant for phone records for an unnamed person who they said was connected to the theft.

The Dec. 1 search warrant was issued for MetroPCS phone records, including tracking information, for a man whose name was redacted on the warrant.

LA Times Reporting

O.J. Simpson ran for 1,880 yards on 383 carries and 23 touchdowns in his Heisman-winning campaign for the Trojans, per Sports-Reference.com, which led to him being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft. While the USC copy was in question for two decades, Simpson sold his copy to help levy against impending court costs.