Buffalo Bills: 32 days until football recalling OJ Simpson

Football cannot come soon enough. Training camp has clenched our pallets for the time being, but there are still 32 days until Buffalo Bills’ football. Today we honor O.J. Simpson.

Simpson was the first overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft. He played for the Buffalo Bills from 1969 to 1977 before ending his career with a one-year stint in San Francisco. During this time the USC alum established one of the greatest resumes an NFL player has ever seen.

Here are some of his accomplishments courtesy of sports.jrank.org:

• 5× Pro Bowl (1972–1976)
• 5× First-team All-Pro (1972–1976)
• NFL Most Valuable Player (1973)
• NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1973)
• Bert Bell Award (1973)
• AP Athlete of the Year (1973)
• 4× NFL rushing yards leader (1972, 1973, 1975, 1976)
• 2× NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1973, 1975)
• AFL All-Star (1969)
• NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
• NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
• National champion (1967)
• Heisman Trophy (1968)
• 2× Unanimous All-American (1967, 1968)

O.J. Simpson had one of the single greatest NFL seasons for a running back of all time. In 1973 he amassed 2,003 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He also averaged an impressive 143.1 rushing yards per game. This was all done in a 14 game season. That makes the feat that much more impressive.

Bleacher Report recently ranked the top-25 running backs of all time. This list contained some of the all-time greats such as Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, and Tony Dorsett. Simpson landed in the eighth spot on the list. Here is what Bleacher Report had to say:

"“Simpson was a household name because of his collegiate exploits long before he landed in Buffalo. He dragged the Bills back to relevance. He changed expectations for “franchise” running backs at the college and pro level, paving the way for the great I-formation runners of the 1980s and beyond. He was as beautiful to watch as any running back ever to play: graceful, agile, determined and effortlessly swift.”"

"“Simpson carried his team and helped define an era. Both the NFL and the world are far different now than they were in 1973. Maybe it wasn’t a simpler time (Vietnam, Watergate), but it certainly was a simpler league. And for a few years, Simpson utterly dominated it.”"

O.J. Simpson was one of the first running backs to have the size to go along with the sprinter’s speed. He was a workhorse back in a time where teams did not put the ball in the air near as often.

It is important to remember that O.J. did not play on the greatest of Buffalo Bills teams. He was not as lucky as Thurman Thomas to be blessed with Andre Reed and Jim Kelly to make the team balanced. Opposing defenses keyed on Simpson 100%, but that did not stop him.

Even though Simpson’s excellence was displayed over just a few years, he put together a stellar enough of a career to be considered one of the all-time greats. Simpson will be remembered for the wrong reasons, but Buffalo Bills’ fans know how much he did for this franchise as a football player.

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Do you think O.J. Simpson is a top-5 running back of all time? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!