ClutchPoints
The Buffalo Bills have decided not to include Hall of Fame running back OJ Simpson in the Wall of Fame display at the franchise’s new Highmark Stadium, ending his status as an honored figure at the team’s home venue despite his historic accomplishments on the field.
The new stadium will feature a Family Circle plaza outside the entrance, designed to celebrate the organization’s history and Western New York. The area will include plaques recognizing members of the Bills’ Wall of Fame, encourage year-round gatherings, and showcase the team’s three bison statues. While the previous Highmark Stadium displayed 31 Wall of Fame members, the new venue will recognize only 30, with Simpson being omitted.
Buffalo reportedly debated Simpson’s inclusion as recently as this spring, with designers preparing plans for either outcome before the organization finalized its decision.
Simpson became the first player inducted into the Bills’ Wall of Fame in 1980 after establishing himself as one of the franchise’s greatest players. Selected first overall in the 1969 NFL Draft following his Heisman Trophy-winning career at USC, he spent nine seasons with Buffalo from 1969-77.
His accomplishments include becoming the first running back in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, recording 2,003 yards in just 14 games in 1973. That season also earned him the NFL MVP award. Simpson was a five-time first-team All-Pro, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, led the league in rushing four times, and posted five consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 1972-76. His 10,183 rushing yards rank second in Bills history behind Thurman Thomas’ 11,938, while his 273-yard rushing performance in 1976 remains the franchise record and was an NFL record at the time.
Off the field, Simpson’s legacy was permanently altered after he was charged in the 1994 killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was acquitted in the 1995 criminal trial but was found liable for wrongful death in a 1997 civil case and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages. He later served nine years in prison following convictions for armed robbery and kidnapping before being paroled in 2017.
Simpson remained in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after his induction in 1985, but Buffalo did not acknowledge his death from cancer in 2024.
The Bills’ new Highmark Stadium is scheduled to host its first regular-season game on Sept. 17 against the Detroit Lions.
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