The Buffalo Bills officially moved to Highmark Stadium on Thursday night, making their NFL regular-season debut in a huge win over the Detroit Lions.
But while the new shiny digs have plenty of features, both new and old, there’s one big name from the team’s history that the franchise hopes to leave behind: O.J. Simpson.
The disgraced former superstar running back is a member of the Bills Wall of Fame, but his name does not appear in the new stadium in Orchard Park.
Betty Jean Grant, a former Erie County legislator, is leading the charge in hopes of getting the Juice back on the Wall.
“This is an American issue of a man who made Buffalo, who made the Buffalo Bills. Had he not done what he did from 1969 to 1977, the Buffalo Bills would not be here to play in the stadium,” she said.
“They would not be here. He made Buffalo. He built Buffalo, the Rock Pile. He made Buffalo world famous.”
Grant added that the group already has 5,000 signatures.
What has the team said about O.J.?
In June, Bills team president of business operations Pete Guelli said removing Simpson’s name was an organizational decision.
“We have made an organizational decision that he is not fit to display inside our new stadium and Family Circle,” Guelli said, per WGRZ.
Grant fired back at the assertion that Simpson wasn’t “fit” and said the team has danced around the reason why the former star has been excluded.
“If they had been brave enough to say ‘we don’t want him on the wall because we think he got away with murder,’ then they should say so,” Grant said.
“They should not say that he’s not fit, what does not fit mean? He was fit when he ran for those 2,000 yards and made Buffalo world famous … he was fit when he was put on the Wall in 1980 and been on that Wall for 46 years.”
Grant said Simpson’s name had remained on the Wall for all three of his trials and through his death, adding: “Tell me now, what changed?”
Why is O.J. Simpson a controversial figure?
In what was dubbed the Trial of the Century, Simpson was tried and acquitted in connection with the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
He was later found liable for the wrongful deaths of the pair in a civil trial in 1997 and was ordered to pay $33.5 million US in damages to the victims’ families.
In 2008, Simpson was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for a botched 2007 hotel room heist in Las Vegas. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison, ultimately serving nine years.
What is the Bills’ Wall of Fame?
The Bills’ Wall of Fame was created in 1980 and honours former players, administrators and coaches. Team legends such as Marv Levy, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith are among the members.
Simpson was inducted in 1980 and remained on the Wall until the team moved to its new stadium this year. The team then made the decision to exclude Simpson’s name, though his profile remains on the team’s website.
Simpson played nine seasons in Buffalo, winning the NFL MVP award in 1973 when he became the first player in history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
He made six Pro Bowls and was a five-time first-team NFL All-Pro.
Simpson retired in 1979 after spending two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, having racked up 11,236 total rushing yards and 83 touchdowns.
He was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 1985.