As the franchise transitions to a new stadium, officials confirm the legendary running back’s name will be scrubbed from the Wall of Fame, ending a controversial decades-long tribute.
When the Buffalo Bills left the old Highmark Stadium last winter, the team's Wall of Fame had 31 members. When they start play at the new Highmark Stadium later this year, the Bills Wall of Fame will have 30.
With the finishing touches happening at the new building, the team has confirmed that Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson will not be brought over as a member of the Wall of Fame or the Family Circle.
Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli confirmed the news in a statement to WIVB-Buffalo on Saturday.
“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle," he said.
Simpson spent nine seasons in Buffalo, becoming one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. He holds the record for the fewest games to reach 2,000 yards rushing when he ran for 2,003 in 14 games in 1973. He also won MVP that year. Over his career, he rushed for 1,000 yards in five straight seasons from 1972-1976, and led the league in rushing in four of the five years.
His play earned him induction to the Bills Wall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
In the early 1990s, however, Simpson was arrested and charged with the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was acquitted in a criminal trial in 1995, but was found liable in a civil case in 1997.
A decade later, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping. He would serve nine years before getting paroled in 2017.
He remained on the wall at the old Highmark Stadium during that time. But with a new building opening, the Bills made the decision to start clean and keep him from being honored.
Simpson passed away in 2024 at the age of 76 following a battle with prostate cancer.
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