The Buffalo Bills announced on Saturday that when the team debuts its new Family Circle, a space reserved for the best players in franchise history, Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson will not be among the honorees at the new Highmark Stadium.
Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks recaps the decision by the Bills to omit Simpson’s presence from their new stadium.
Check out the reactions to the news and then be sure to leave your thoughts on Buffalo’s decision to not honor Simpson, who was the first
player ever honored on the Wall of Fame at the old stadium.
‘He is not a fit:’ Bills explain why O.J. Simpson won’t be featured at new stadium
Buffalo’s Family Circle will be located where the team’s three bison statues are situated outside of Highmark Stadium. Part of the Family Circle is meant to honor former Bills legends with plaques. And after months of speculation, the team finally announced how it would handle O.J. Simpson’s presence at the new stadium.
“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle,” Pete Guelli, chief operating officer for the Bills, said in a statement first reported by WIVB.
In 1980, O.J. Simpson became the first Bills player to earn a spot on the Wall of Fame in Buffalo’s old stadium following a Hall of Fame career that saw him become the first player in league history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a single season and earn five first-team All-Pro honors.
In nine seasons in Western New York, Simpson led the league in rushing four times, including the 1973 season, when he earned NFL MVP honors and NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors after rushing for 2,003 yards in 14 games.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, but had plenty of off the field issues after retiring, including being tried for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was acquitted in the 1995 criminal trial, but found liable for their deaths in a civil case in 1997. He also was convicted years later on armed robbery, kidnapping and 10 other charges related to memorabilia that he claimed was stolen from him. Simpson, who served nine years in prison, died in April of 2024 from prostate cancer.
- O.J. Simpson will not be included at the new Highmark Stadium – WIVB
- The Buffalo Bills will honor its Wall of Fame members at new stadium – except for one – Buffalo News (subscription required)
- How the Buffalo Bills are handling O.J. Simpson’s complicated legacy as they move into their new stadium – newyorkupstate.com
- Bills will not honor O.J. Simpson at new stadium – ESPN.com Buffalo Bills blog
- Bills exclude O.J. Simpson from new Highmark Stadium honors – Democrat & Chronicle
- O.J. Simpson will not be honored at Buffalo Bills’ new Highmark Stadium – The Athletic (subscription required)
- O.J. Simpson ‘not a fit’ inside the new Highmark Stadium, Bills say – WGRZ
- O.J. Simpson won’t be in the Wall of Fame at the new Bills stadium – NBC Sports
- Bills Exclude O.J. Simpson from New Legends Section at Highmark Stadium – Sports Illustrated Buffalo Bills
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