Buffalo Bills Will Not Honor O.J. Simpson at New Stadium: ‘Not a Fit to Display’

• The Buffalo Bills will honor franchise legends at the new Highmark Stadium in the family circle area
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• Bills alum O.J. Simpson will not be honored in the area, the team’s COO confirmed on June 27

• The controversial figure’s name was previously displayed in the old stadium’s Wall of Fame

The Buffalo Bills will honor franchise legends at the new Highmark Stadium in the family circle area

Bills alum O.J. Simpson will not be honored in the area, the team’s COO confirmed on June 27

The controversial figure’s name was previously displayed in the old stadium’s Wall of Fame

The Buffalo Bills are honoring some franchise legends at the team’s new stadium. O.J. Simpson will not be among them.

At the new Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., the Bills will honor iconic players in the family circle area, a year-round plaza outside of the venue dedicated to displaying the history of the franchise. Simpson, who played the majority of his NFL career with the Bills, will not be included in the area, the Bills’ chief operating officer confirmed to ESPN and Buffalo CBS affiliate WIVB on Saturday, June 27.

“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle,” Bills COO Pete Guelli said in a statement obtained by the outlets.

Guelli did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, June 28. PEOPLE has also reached out to a Bills spokesperson for comment.

Simpson — who was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman in a high-profile 1995 trial — spent nine NFL seasons in Buffalo, and was the first member inducted into the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame in 1980, per ESPN. His name remained on display for years despite an ongoing debate, according to the outlet.

His name is “likely the only” from the old stadium’s Wall of Fame who will not make the transfer to the new venue’s family circle area, per ESPN. There was still debate over whether to include the former running back in the new plaza as recently as spring, the outlet reported.

Highmark Stadium had its grand opening ceremony on Tuesday, June 23, and the Bills are scheduled to play their first regular-season game at the $2.1 billion venue against the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 17.

Simpson — born Orenthal James Simpson and nicknamed “The Juice” — rose to fame as a record-breaking running back for the Bills. He was the first selection by the Buffalo team in the 1969 AFL-NFL Common Draft, and played with the team through 1978. From 1979 to his retirement in 1982, Simpson played for his hometown San Francisco 49ers.

He was the first player to rush over 2,000 yards in a single season in 1973 and was named NFL’s player of the year three times in the ’70s, per the Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame.

But the star player’s reputation as one of the greatest running backs of all time was overshadowed by the double-murder trial over the murders of Nicole and Goldman, who were both found stabbed to death in the courtyard of her California condo in June 1994.

After evading police and attempting to flee in his now-infamous white Bronco, Simpson surrendered and was charged with both of their murders. He was controversially acquitted after an eight-month-long murder trial, which drew international attention.

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He later served nine years in prison for a different crime after he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, and was released in 2017. He died in 2024 at age 76 following a cancer diagnosis.

Simpson remains in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which he entered with the 1983 class.

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