BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — More than 400 people are petitioning the Buffalo Bills to change their stance on honoring O.J. Simpson inside the new Highmark Stadium, after the team announced Simpson was "not a fit to display."
On June 29, we were inside the stadium as the names of Jim Kelly, Ralph Wilson, Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas were being added to displays in the seating bowl.
7 Sports Director Matt Bove learned that other notable players will be recognized in a 'family circle' and other parts of the stadium.
Names of Jim Kelly, Ralph Wilson, Bruce Smith, & Thurman Thomas now displayed inside the stadium. I can tell you there will be far fewer names prominently featured out here in the bowl. But other notable players will get recognition in family circle/other parts of stadium @WKBW pic.twitter.com/UQa0JAyPet
— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) June 29, 2026
However, the organization has announced O.J. Simpson will not be named in any of those locations inside the new stadium.
“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and family circle,” Chief Operating Officer for the Buffalo Bills, Pete Guelli, said.
Now, a group of fans, led by former Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, is asking the team to rethink that decision. Their online and paper petitions have combined for more than 400 signatures.
“There’s a wall of separation between a person’s professional life and their personal life,” Sherry Sherrill said. “What a former Buffalo Bill player did, and what any Buffalo Bills player does, as a professional achievement ought to be regarded and treated as precisely that. It ought to be honored.”
The Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame was created in 1980, with Simpson being the first inductee. His name was prominently hung inside the former Highmark Stadium for decades.
“In 1994, when his troubles began, he was not removed from that wall. That’s 32 years ago,” Grant said. “So, what happened between 32 years ago and now that the Bills suddenly decided that he’s not worthy?”
On the field, Simpson was one of the most decorated NFL running backs of all time. He became the first in NFL history to top 2,000 rushing yards in a season (2,003 yards in 1973), won AP NFL MVP (1973), won four NFL rushing titles (1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976), was selected to five Pro Bowls (1972-76) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
“O.J. Simpson is part of Western New York history. He is part of the Buffalo Bills’ legacy, like it or not,” Sherrill said.
In his life after football, Simpson was famously acquitted in 1995 in the killings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
He later served out a nine-to-33-year sentence for his role in a 2007 incident that unfolded in a Las Vegas hotel room.
Simpson and armed associates allegedly confronted two memorabilia dealers and took pieces of memorabilia from them. Simpson was convicted on charges including kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. The former college and pro football star said at his sentencing that he was trying to reclaim family heirlooms and other personal items that were stolen from him, and claimed that he was unaware his associates were carrying guns.
“What we hope happens is a reversal,” Sherrill said. “It is revisionist, and that’s not fair. History in all its forms has to be preserved.”
