Orenthal James Simpson grew up in San Francisco California. He was huge for a running back (even by today’s standards). He was 6’1 215, he ran like a gazelle and had the agility of cheetah. He was very charming and likeable. He was handsome and laidback. Advertisers were lining up to have O.J as the spokesman for their products. What would happen in future events would make it seem almost incomprehensible to describe O.J as laidback, charming or likeable but back in the late 60’s these were adjectives used to describe O.J Simpson and everyone would gravitate to him. In general terms he was the complete opposite of the hardnosed working class that Buffalo was known for. O.J was west coast cool and Buffalo was the hang you hat working class that much of the midwest and East were known for. When O.J walked into a room it was hard not to recognize him. When the Bills drafted him in 1969 there was no doubts he would help turn around the Bills right away and give the Bills an identity they have been missing for a couple of years. However, in sports and life it does not take overnight to overturn a mess. The O.J Simpson Bills would fall into that category. Part II will dive into the slow turnaround to respectability that would eventually become the story of O.J Simpson and the 1970’s Bills.
1969
O.J Simpson demanded what would have been the largest contract in NFL History to play in Buffalo. O.J wanted 650,000 over five years (which was an obscene amount of money for a pro athlete especially a football player at this time). O.J threatened to retire before even playing a game to instead act in his home state of California. Ralph Wilson and O.J would eventually agree to a 4 year 215,000 contract (still massive contract for a player who had never played a snap). Even with the big money however new Bills coach John Rauch did not want to center the offense around a rookie who had never played a down in pro football. O.J would split time with second year running back Wayne Patrick throughout his first season in the pros. The Bills would improve on the 1968 season but would have a brutal schedule in 1969 playing half of their games against playoff teams. The game that brought some hope to Bills fans was week 10 against the Dolphins. O.J would have 153 all purpose yards including two td receptions from Jack Kemp (one going for 55 yards) in a 28-3 rout (remember this game for future Dolphins Bills history). The Bills would only improve to a 4-10 record but with some flashes from O.J and Jack Kemp coming back for a fully healthy season 1970 may be the year the Bills get back into the playoff mix….
1970-1971
Jack Kemp after playing in his 7th AFL All Star game was approached from the Erie County Republican Party (In Erie County New York) about running for Congress. Jack Kemp was heavily involved in politics well before 1970. He was a volunteer in Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Presidential Campaign and Richard Nixon’s successful 1966 California gubernatorial campaign. Politics was more than a hobby to Kemp. It was what inspired him. If anything football was Kemp’s hobby, he was so good at it he could play football at a high level and be involved in politics on his time away from the field. Jack Kemp spoke with his wife and decided to take up the opportunity to run for Congress. Kemp said hey if doesn’t win he could always go back and play football. Kemp did win his seat in Congress, and just like that his football playing days were done.
Let’s go back to 1966 and talk about a man named Al Davis. Al Davis was the owner of the Oakland Raiders and became commissioner of the AFL in April of 1966. With the growing success of the AFL Al Davis would start a movement of signing former NFL players to AFL Teams to improve it’s talent base and the new plan was working. This would rock the boat as many cash strapped owners in the NFL began to fear that their league would not be able to be financially profitable if they lost many of their best players to their rival league. In a desperate attempt to save face the Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm would contact Chiefs owner and league founder Lamar Hunt about a possible merger between the two leagues (the Texas connection didn’t hurt Hunt’s chances of taking the call). This was all done in secrecy behind the new commissioner’s back (and you wonder why Al Davis was such a rebel over the years, more on that later). You already know from Part I about the Championship game and the new draft setup. The other big chips to make this new merger happen was all teams would be retained in their cities and expansion would grow to 28 teams by 1970 (ended up being 26). AFL indemnities would be paid to share markets with NFL Teams. Raiders with the 49ers, Giants with the Jets are prime examples. AFL would abolish their commissioners office and the league would be run by the NFL Commissioner. In 1970 the Merger was complete and the NFL we still know to this day was born.
The New AFC East would comprise of the Bills, Jets, Patriots, Dolphins and newcomer from the NFL Baltimore Colts. There would be four teams in the playoffs and this would give some teams new hope with the playoff mix doubling from 1969. The 1970 Bills were not one of the teams to prosper in the new league as the Bills would regress to 3-10-1. One of the low points of the season would be a 14-33 home loss to the Dolphins in Week 5 (continue with more about the Dolphins-Bills rivalry later and Bills fans won’t like it). To make matters worse War Memorial Stadium was deemed by new NFL Standards inhabitable. It did not seat the required minimum of 50,000 seats. The locker rooms were tiny, the showers only sometimes were functional. The Field would freeze over regularly making playing conditions very dangerous to an already dangerous enough sport. Girders in the construction made it difficult to see the action in parts of the stadium. The neighborhood was the among the roughest in town making it dangerous to even walk to your vehicle after the game. The place was built for baseball but was being played by a football team. In response Ralph Wilson threatened to move the Bills to either Seattle, Tampa or Memphis if he did not get approval for a new stadium. This could not be happening again. Buffalo could not be possibly losing another pro football team, could they?
Western New Yorkers would give in after the 1970 season and approved funds to build a 80,000 seat stadium in Erie County. There was some debate about where to build the Stadium, originally was to be built in Lancaster but would eventually be approved to be built in Suburban Orchard Park (south of Buffalo) in September of 1971. For the 1971 season Bills fans may want to look away. Coach John Rauch would resign before the season and team would be taken over by pro personnel director Harvey Johnson (also took over briefly in 1968). The 1971 Bills were awful, by every metric they were one of the worst teams in NFL History. They scored the fewest points (184) and allowed the most points (394). This has never happened in a full season in NFL History before or since. 1976 Bucs, 2008 Lions and 2016 Browns be damned. The Bills would get shutout four times. Would only score 21 touchdowns total for the season. In this abysmal season there was one silver lining. O.J Simpson would run for 742 yards and average over 4 yards a carry. He would have a sealing 7 yard touchdown run in the Bills only victory of the season. A 27-20 win in Week 12 over the Patriots. Simpson in his third season was starting to show signs of becoming one of the best backs in the league. Harvey Johnson was not the answer at coach but maybe if the Bills could find the right guy 1972 could be the season the Bills might start to turn things around….
Return of Lou and the 1972 Season
Lou Saban after his one year cameo with university of Maryland went on to coach the Denver Broncos in 1967. The Broncos was the worst team in the first decade of the AFL never posting a winning record. Lou Saban would not be able to buck the trend going 20-42-3 in his time in the mile high city before resigning midway through the 1971 Season. This was a far cry from what Saban did during his time with the Bills when he left because he quoted “having nothing else to prove in pro football”. We can use Lebron James return to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a great example in Sports that if you win the fans will forgive you even if you leave on bad terms and welcome you home if you come home and win again (other words winning cures all ills). The only taste of success the Bills have ever had was with Lou Saban at the helm so in 1972 offseason Ralph Wilson decided to bring Lou back.
1972 would be the last season the Bills would play in War Memorial (or Civic or the rockpile) Stadium. No one expected the Bills to compete for a Super Bowl in 1972 and the Bills did not. But Lou Saban was always great at recognizing talent and realized he had a great at running back and went to work on building the offense around the former Trojan Great. The Bills would see their progression in a Week 6 game against the only undefeated team in NFL History the 1972 Miami Dolphins (sure you have heard of them). The Bills would lose a narrow game 24-23 in what would be the closest call the Dolphins would have the entire season. The Bills would get a late touchdown from backup QB MIke Teliaferro to fullback Jim Braxton to cut the Dolphins lead to 24-22 late in the fourth. Back in 1972 there was not a 2 point conversion option so the Bills could only cut the lead to one and the Dolphins would eventually run the clock out to hold on. The Bills would only win 4 games but O.J Simpson would lead the league in rushing with 1,251 yards. He would later say that Lou Saban saved his career. With their coach back and O.J soaring into a star the Bills officially had an identity again.
Rich Stadium and the introduction of the “Electric Company”
The Bills were all ready to move into their brand new 80,000 seat Rich Stadium in Orchard Park. Why did the stadium get named Rich stadium? Great question you ask and here is why. Rich Products (a Buffalo based food product company) would pay for the naming rights of Ralph Wilson’s new stadium for 25 years at 60,000 per year (what a bargain even by then standards). We could go into what Rich Products produces (think Soybean Oil) but that is for a different conversation. The Bills had a new stadium, new jerseys (my personal favorites with the Buffalo on the Helmet and the road blue pants and white tops), and a star running back coming into his prime. 1973 was supposed to be a big year for O.J and he didn’t disappoint. Before we go into the 1973 season we must introduce you to some other member of the new look Bills..
First let’s introduce you to Joe Ferguson. Joe Ferguson was drafted in the third round in the 1973 draft out of Arkansas. He grew up in Alvin Texas (a suburb of Houston) and was a good but not highly touted prospect at any level. Ferguson would win the job over incumbent starter Dennis Shaw in the preseason and not relinquish the job for over a decade. Ferguson would become the all time leader passer in every passing category imaginable. Almost all of these records would later be broken by a guy who went to the University of Miami (Florida to clarify). You may have heard of him but we will introduce you to that guy in Part III.
Our next introduction will be a group of large men that will create what was called the “Electric Company”. The motto was the group up front would every Sunday quote unquote “turn on the juice”. The start of the Electric Company started in 1971 when the Bills would draft eventual right/swing tackle Donnie Green (Purdue Boilermaker) in the 5th round of the 1971 draft. Green would not play much his rookie season but Lou Saban liked his footwork and would move him to starting right tackle at the start of the 1972 season and would become a valuable swing tackle from 1973 to 1976. Also in 1971 the Bills would draft in the 3rd Round unknown Fullback Jim Braxton from West Virginia. Braxton would become one of the best blocking fullbacks in all of football across the 1970’s. We shift to 1972 when the Bills would make a trade with the Jets for former 1969 first round pick Dave Foley. With the 2nd round pick in 1972 the Bills would draft Guard Reggie McKenzie in the 2nd Round out of Michigan. We shift to 1973, the Bills would begin their offseason by picking up Mike Montler from the New England Patriots. More of a fringe starter who would find his footing with the Bills and be the starting center for four seasons. 1973 would end up being one of the best drafts in Bills history without much debate to be had. The Bills drafted Paul Seymour an all American Left Tackle (Like McKenzie from Michigan) seventh overall. Lou Saban liked Seymour’s blocking but more liked his hands and converted him to tight end where he would play for his entire 5 year career. The best draft pick for the Bills in the 1970’s (Jim Ferguson may say hold my beer, same draft by the way) and arguably the best offensive lineman in Bills history was with their second 1st round pick. The Bills made a trade in the offseason with the Dolphins with the Dolphins acquiring WR Marlin Briscoe and Defensive Lineman Jim Dunaway for Linebacker Dale Farley (who didn’t amount to much with the Bills) and the 26th pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. With the 26th pick in the 1973 NFL Draft the Bills selected Guard Joe DeLamielleure out of Michigan State. Starting in 1974 Joe DeLamielleure would be an 8 time All-Pro and a three time First Team All Pro. He would block for a MVP on two different teams. He would be named to the all 1970’s team. Joe DeLamielleure was simply the best guard in the entire NFL in the 1970s. He was a rock in the middle, as durable as they come. Drafting Joe DeLamielleure amongst the other moves the Bills made in the previous two off-season’s would revamp what was an awful group up front into the best offensive line in all of football. 1973 would become the year that O.J Simpson would be unleashed.
In 1973 O.J Simpson had what many still believe to this day to be the best season in NFL History by any Running Back. O.J would not waste anytime running for 250 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-13 rout of the Patriots in the home opener at the new Rich Stadium. He had one of the best runs of the season (a 78 yarder through the entire Colts defense) in another 31-13 win in Week 5. The thought that O.J could hit the unthinkable 2,000 yards wouldn’t come to fruition however until a Week 14 37-13 Victory in New England when Simpson would against torch the Pats for 219 yards as the Bills would improve to 8-5 and clinch their first winning season since 1966. O.J would need 197 yards in the finale against the Jets to become the first running back to hit 2 k. Unfortunately, the Steelers had racked up the Wildcard and the Dolphins had clinched the AFC East so the playoffs were out of question. What was not out of question was 2,000 yards for O.J Simpson. Jim Brown’s NFL Record of 1,863 yards was almost a certainly to break but O.J and the Electric Company wanted to do the inconceivable. Early on in a snowy day at Shea Stadium (Also former home of the Mets, think 1986 World Series) O.J would break Jim Brown’s single season rushing record. In the second half O.J would get over 2 k with a 5 yard carry late in the 4th Quarter. O.J Simpson needed a huge day of 197 yards and got 200 to end the season with 2,003. 1973 was not just an historic year for O.J Simpson but for the Bills running attack as a whole. The Bills would top 3,000 yards rushing for the first time in NFL History running for 3,088 yards as a team. The 143.2 yards per game for O.J Simpson and the 220.6 yards the Bills had in 1973 is an NFL Record that still stands to this very day. Unfortunately a mid season 1-4 slump including 2 blowout losses to the Dolphins (a team the Bills had yet to beat in the 1970’s) put the Bills on the outside looking in. The best rushing attack in NFL History didn’t even make the playoffs.
1974
The Bills would again go 9-5 and this time it was good enough to make the postseason. O.J Simpson would not light the World on fire but would have another solid season running for 1,125 yards. The Bills would maybe have the most bizarre game of the 1970s and maybe you’ll ever see in a Week 3 game against the Jets. The Bills would win the game 16-12 but that wasn’t the bizarre fact about this game. The Bills would run the ball 51 times and only throw the ball twice and both of the passes were incompletions. The Bills would do something that even Tim Tebow never did. They would win a game without completing a single pass. You would think the Jets (who still had an aging Joe Namath) would light the world on fire but nope. Broadway Joe went 2-18 in this game. In a professional football game that was played with Helmets and played in decent weather had 2 pass completions total for the entire game. If that isn’t 1970’s Buffalo Football I don’t know what is. Later in the season the Bills would lose a hard fought 35-28 late season defeat at the hands of the Miami Dolphins to lose out on the division (the losing streak now at 10) but would still comfortably make it into the postseason as a Wildcard. O.J Simpson for the first time in his career will be playing a playoff game. The 1974 Bills would look similar to the 1973 Bills on the Field. But before the Season the Bills did make a slight uniform change. The Bills would change their helmets to the streaking Bison (which is still their helmet today).
For the postseason the Bills will be traveling to the equally up and coming Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills were up 7-3 after the first quarter in what appeared to be the makings of a great playoff game. But in the 2nd Quarter the wheels would fall off. The Steelers would score back to back touchdowns to go up 17-7 midway through the second Quarter. On the Bills next drive they would counter with a huge run 30 yard run by Jim Braxton. But Braxton would get stripped at the end of the run and the Steelers would recover. The Steelers would score again on the ensuing drive to go up 22-7. The Steelers would score 4 touchdowns in the second Quarter to go up 29-7 at the Half as Terry Bradshaw (modernly known for being on a popular pregame show but was also one hell of a quarterback) would light up the Bills time and time again going 10-14 for 138 yards and a td in the first half. O.J Simpson could never get going running for 49 yards on 15 carries. The Steelers would cruise to a 32-14 win. This win would vault the Steelers into an eventual dynasty as they would win four Super Bowl over the next 8 years. For the Bills…
1975-1977
In 1975 the Bills offense would explode. O.J Simpson would have a season that rivaled his 1973 campaign running for 1,817 yards and a then NFL record 23 Touchdowns. The Bills would score also an NFL Record at the time 420 points (or 30 points per game) and have over 300 yards of offense every single game but would still miss the playoffs. The issue was the Bills could not stop anyone. The Bills would allow an also league record (after the merger) 3,080 yards passing. The issue was the lack of depth in the secondary after starting corner Robert James and starting safety Doug Jones was lost for the season with knee injuries. The Bills would lose mid season shootouts 35-30 to the Dolphins and 42-35 to the Colts. In the loss to the Colts, Quarterback Bart Jones (never heard of him) had 306 yards passing and running back Lydell Mitchell (also never heard of him) had 112 yards rushing. I check the 1975 database to see how many times a team had a 300 yard passer with a 100 yard rusher (something a little more common in the offensive heavy NFL of today) and it happened 3 times total that season. This one time to the Bills in a big game against a decent but not great Colts team in which the Bills amassed 35 points and over 400 yards of offense themselves. The Bills would lose a Week 12 game 31-21 to the Dolphins (their 12th straight defeat to Miami) to fall to 7-5 and eliminate them from the playoff conversation. The best offensive team of the new NFL and a team that started 4-0 will be sitting at home in January. To put this into perspective it wouldn’t be until the 2004 Chiefs that a team that averaged 30 points a game would miss the postseason, well done Bills.
O.J Simpson has vaulted himself into not just the best running back in football but one of the it’s biggest stars. O.J was in commercials from Chevy to Hertz car rentals. Bob Griese, Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw were star Quarterbacks with Championships but O.J Simpson was maybe a bigger star then all of them. He wanted to reup his contract after the 75 season. He felt he was being undervalued and the truth was he was likely tired of being away from his home state of California. He demanded to be traded to his near hometown Raiders or the L.A Rams or he would sit out the 1976 Season. Commissioner Pete Rozelle was criticized for not getting involved more in trying to resolve the matter of one of his biggest stars refusing to play but his relationship with Raiders owner Al Davis was complicated to say the least (see the merger paragraph above). Eventually O.J and Owner Ralph Wilson would agree to terms on a three year 2.5 million dollar contract extension. O.J would report for camp and the 1976 Bills were ready to roll. The Bills would recover nicely from an 0-2 start blowing out the Chiefs 50-17 in Week 4 with O.J and teammate Jeff Kinney both running for over 100 yards. The Bills were 2-2 and 76 was looking to at worst be another competitive season in Western New York. In Week 5 the Bills would lose a hard fought 17-14 game to the Jets on a late Jets field goal. But then after the game something terrible happened. Lou Saban said he was done and walked away. He cited that he was frustrated over Ralph Wilson’s handling of the O.J Simpson contract situation and did not want to be part of a team that cared more about money than winning. Offensive Line coach Jim Ringo took over but the story the 1976 Bills were heading towards becoming a train wreck and that is exactly what happened. Some would cite the low point being O.J Simpson getting ejected for fighting with the Pats Mel Lunsford in a Week 9 defeat. My thoughts of their low point came on Thanksgiving Day of that Season. The Bills were in Detroit playing the Lions. O.J could not be stopped on this day. He would set the NFL Record for a single game running for 273 yards on 29 carries and 2 touchdowns. Even with this historic accomplishment the Bills would still lose 27-14 on a game that wasn’t even that close. O.J had the best single rushing game in league history and the Bills still got smoked. The 1976 Bills would finish 2-12 losing their final ten games. Jim Ringo would go 0-9 as a head coach that season but Ralph Wilson was like what the heck let’s give him another chance.
1977 Bills were predictably awful. The lost home games by scores of 13-0 and 10-0 (and won a home game over the Falcons 3-0). Their losing streak to the Dolphins now sits at 16. O.J Simpson would injure his knee in Week 7 and would miss the remainder of the season after having knee surgery. After a sellout crowd on opening day the Bills averaged 35,000 fans a game the rest of the season. The Bills would finish the season 3-11 and were once again irrelevant. O.J Simpson would get traded to his hometown San Francisco 49ers after the Season. The Bills were again lost in the abyss, irrelevant to the world. Jim Ringo would resign before the end of the season (maybe not retaining him after 1976 would have been the right thing to do but who cares).
The Bills were looking for a new head coach and a new identity. Jim Ferguson was a solid Quarterback but had regressed some over the 76-77 seasons. The Bills were still sold on Ferguson as their QB but needed the right coach to take him to the next level. At this same time interesting happenings were occurring on the other side of the country. The Los Angeles Rams were on a roll in the Mid 1970’s. The Rams had five consecutive divisional championships and did this with five different starting Quarterbacks. Head Coach Chuck Knox had led the Rams to three consecutive NFC Championship games from 1974-1976 but lost them all. In the 1977 divisional playoffs the Rams would lose to the Vikings 14-7 on a rainy day at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a game historically dubbed the “mud bowl”. The Rams were 8 point favorites and outgained Minnesota by almost 100 yards but Quarterback Pat Haden would have a rough game throwing three interceptions and struggling to grip the wet football all day. Knox would resign following the game because of his feelings that Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom would not leave Knox alone to coach the team. Knox was not a good coach but a great coach that always got the most out of his players (especially his quarterbacks). Chuck Knox just wanted to coach a team his way. With dropping attendance and interest in the Bills Ralph Wilson needed to go and get a big fish and a leader of men. Chuck Knox was that big fish. On January 11th, 1978 Chuck Knox was officially announced as the 9th Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills.