The Buffalo Bills are officially moving on from dark part of their history with latest Highmark Stadium announcement
The Buffalo Bills announced a significant decision regarding O.J. Simpson as they get ready to move into the new Highmark Stadium ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
A lot will be different for the Buffalo Bills now that they’re set to call the new Highmark Stadium their home. That naturally includes the gameday experience for fans but also, the way the team looks back at its own franchise history.
Bills won’t include O.J. Simpson at new stadium
Bills chief operating officer Pete Guelli released a statement on Sunday revealing the team made an organizational decision to not include Simpson in any displays inside the stadium, via WIVB.
That includes the Family Circle, a big landmark of the new stadium. The Family Circle will be a plaza outside the stadium partly dedicated to honor Bills greats. The plaza will feature three bison statues and plaques honoring former players.
“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle,” reads Guelli’s statement.
The decision is an important one. Simpson ran for 10,183 yards for the Bills and had five first-team All-Pro seasons in the 1970s, was the Bills’ first ever inductee to the Wall of Fame in 1980.
Since then, Simpson’s legacy has changed drastically. In 1997, a civil trial jury found Simpson liable for wrongful death following the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to their families.
Simpson also served almost nine years in prison for an armed robbery and kidnapping case prosecuted in 2007-2008. He was found guilty of 12 charges.
Simpson died in 2024 to cancer at 76 years old. At the time, the Bills didn’t release a statement acknowledging his passing, according to ESPN.