Buffalo Bills, NFL and USC ignore OJ Simpson’s death
The Buffalo Bills got blitzed on social media for not acknowledging the death of O.J. Simpson, who was arguably the franchise’s best and most notorious player.
Before Simpson died from cancer on Wednesday, he was celebrated as one of the best running backs the National Football League has known. When he retired from professional football in 1979, Simpson was the NFL’s second leading rusher of all-time. He spent nine of his 11 years playing in Buffalo.
Simpson is also one of the best-known double-murder defendants of all time, though he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in a highly controversial 1995 trial lasting nearly a year.
The Bills — who couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday — went the entire day without posting mention of his death. And fans noticed.
“No mention of OJ,” one X user wrote. “Only the best player in team history.”
The team last posted on X Wednesday to recognize the 62nd birthday of former Bills receiver Steve Tasker.
“Has anything happened today, lads?” asked another critic.
“Y’all think they('d) post something for OJ,” one apparent Simpson fan said on the Bills' Instagram page.
But the team wasn’t alone in steering clear of his infamy.
The NFL didn’t release a statement remembering Simpson either. Nor did the University of Southern California, where Simpson won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 while setting college football’s all-time single season rushing record.
The Heisman Trophy association did briefly acknowledge Simpson’s death.
“The Heisman Trophy Trust mourns the passing of 1968 Heisman trophy winner OJ Simpson,” officials said Thursday. “We extend our sympathy to his family.”
Simpson’s Heisman Trophy was seized to help satisfy part of a $33.5 million wrongful death lawsuit won in 1997 by Ron Goldman’s family. Simpson had refused to pay that judgment.
In 2019, ESPN reported the Heisman was bought for $255,0000 in a 1999 auction and later sold to a private collector in Nevada.
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