Furious Buffalo Bills fans protest decision to remove OJ Simpson from 'Wall of Fame' at new $2.2bn stadium

When the Buffalo Bills officially open New Highmark Stadium on Thursday Night Football, they will re-reveal the members of their Wall of Fame. But one notable name hasn't made the move from the old building.

The Bills are set to play their first regular-season game at their new home in Orchard Park on Thursday against the Detroit Lions after previously playing in their old building – previously known as Ralph Wilson Stadium – for over 50 years.

While there are plenty of new amenities, some things have carried over to the newly constructed building. Among these includes the names on the Bills Wall of Fame.

But of the 31 names on the Wall of Fame, one will not be represented in the new stadium: OJ Simpson.

Simpson, arguably the greatest player in Bills history and the first of three Buffalo players to win the league's MVP award, is being left off the wall.

In a statement, Bills Chief Operating Officer Pete Guelli said: 'We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle.'

Simpson, who died in 2024, has a complicated legacy stemming from the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

But as some Buffalo activists have pointed out, Simpson's name stayed on the Wall of Fame throughout the three legal trials the former running back faced – only to now be deemed 'not a fit' for the honor. 

'If they had been brave enough to say that "we don't want him on the wall because we think he got away with murder," then they should say that,' activist Betty Jean Grant told reporters. 

'Not just say he's not fit. What does not fit mean? He was fit when he ran for 2,000 yards and made Buffalo world famous. He was fit when he got inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame in 1985. He was fit when he was put on a wall in Buffalo in 1980.'

Simpson was found not guilty of Brown and Goldman's murders in 1995, but was found civilly liable in 1997. Later in life, he was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison for armed robbery at a Las Vegas casino in 2007.

'He's been on that wall for 46 years,' Grant added. 'He was on the wall for that first trial. He was on that wall for the second trial … third trial. He was on that wall for years after he died. Tell me now what's changed?'

Simpson is the team's second-leading career rusher – racking up over 10,000 yards despite only spending eight years in Buffalo. He still holds the first, second and fourth-best single-season rushing marks and is the only Bills player to accumulate over 2,000 all-purpose yards in a season.