OJ Simpson’s Spot on the Bills Wall of Fame Won’t Move to the New Stadium.

The Buffalo Bills made a quiet but deliberate decision about their new stadium’s Wall of Fame. OJ Simpson won’t be on it.

The team confirmed that the new Highmark Stadium, set to open in 2026, will feature 30 Wall of Fame plaques instead of the 31 that hung in the current building. Simpson is the only member being left out. It’s a striking shift for a franchise that had honored him since 1980, when he became the first player inducted into that Wall of Fame.

A complicated legacy, on and off the field

Simpson’s on-field résumé is undeniable. He was the first running back in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, doing it in just 14 games in 1973. That year he won MVP. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro, a six-time Pro Bowler, and his 10,183 rushing yards still rank second in Bills history behind Thurman Thomas. His 273-yard rushing game in 1976 was an NFL record at the time.

But off the field, his legacy is defined by the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. He was acquitted in the criminal trial but found liable for wrongful death in a civil case and ordered to pay $33.5 million. He later served nine years in prison for armed robbery and kidnapping.

The team has been wrestling with this decision for months. According to reports, designers prepared plans for both scenarios — including Simpson on the Wall of Fame and excluding him — as recently as this spring. The organization ultimately chose to exclude him from the new Family Circle plaza, an outdoor space designed to celebrate team history and Western New York.

What the new stadium will look like

The new Highmark Stadium’s front entrance will feature a Family Circle plaza with plaques for Wall of Fame members, three bison statues, and space for year-round gatherings. It’s meant to be a welcoming spot for fans. But for one of the most famous players in franchise history, there won’t be a spot.

Simpson died of cancer in April 2024. The Bills did not acknowledge his death publicly. He remains in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1985 and has not removed him. That’s a separate institution with its own rules. The Bills, however, control their own walls.

The new stadium is scheduled to host its first regular-season game on Sept. 17 against the Detroit Lions. By then, the Wall of Fame will be set — and Simpson’s absence will be the most noticeable thing about it.