OJ: Made in America

[BillsShredder83]

I know, very late to the party, but just started the doc. I was born in 88, so OJ was wayyyyyyy before my time, hell my parents were infants. Very good series so far, Im through part 1 of 4 or 5. I knew OJ as the murderer for a decade as one thing only before I knew he was even a Bill. Here's a few random thoughts.

 

1. Had no clue college sports were as big as they were at that time. Part of it is growing up in the Northeast, were about our pro teams...... been in the south since early 2020, and its opened a whole new world to me, where college is in the driver seat.

 

2. The guy doesnt seem well liked by many. I never understood "OJ Simpson, still not a Jew" in Adam Sandlers song, i get it now lol he rebuked Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown, im sure it wasnt universal, but he lost his black audience fairly early it seems.

 

3. He wasnt very good his first 2 years it seems. Took a good coach and Electric Company (had known this) to turn on the Juice

 

4.  Dude was ready to step away from the game very early to pursue Hollywood.... weird to me, as it seems that was there waiting for him. Was Hollywood money that much larger at the time? Must not have had good people in his corner advising him

 

That's all I have till part 2 tmrw. Feel free to chime in!

[QCity]

39 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Was Hollywood money that much larger at the time?

 

Yes. The majority of NFL players that left the game in the 70s had to get 9-to-5 jobs and worked until their retirement age. Superstar players made the bulk of their money through endorsements like OJ did with Chevrolet and Hertz. But that was only a handful of the top personalities in the game like Namath, Bradshaw, OJ, etc. Even adjusting for inflation the money was nothing like today.

 

Of course back then football was not a round-the-year job and you could do both. OJ regularly made TV shows and movies in the offseason while under contract with the Bills.

[Buffalo716]

The glove didn’t fit!!

[Wacka]

 

OJ  hurt his knee in his second year returning kickoffs (I believe). Didn't do that after .  Saw him in person  from 73 onwards. He was an excellent running back, but really didn't catch. I read a book on him and they showed some pictures from a Colts game.  Five Colts had him basically surrounded in the backfield on his own 32.  The next picture is them on the ground and OJ running ahead of them.  Five other Colts had a shot at him on the way to a touchdown in that play. Thurman  Thomas was a better all around player. Thurman has all the team records for a running back except rushing yards in a game and a season. 

[Gregg]

 

 

[Saxum]

2 minutes ago, Wacka said:

 

OJ  hurt his knee in his second year returning kickoffs (I believe). Didn't do that after .  Saw him in person  from 73 onwards. He was an excellent running back, but really didn't catch. I read a book on him and they showed some pictures from a Colts game.  Five Colts had him basically surrounded in the backfield on his own 32.  The next picture is them on the ground and OJ running ahead of them.  Five other Colts had a shot at him on the way to a touchdown in that play. Thurman  Thomas was a better all around player. Thurman has all the team records for a running back except rushing yards in a game and a season. 

 

Thurman was a much better blocker.  Fred Jackson was probably the best RB Bills had at blocking.

[BillsPride12]

24 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Thurman was a much better blocker.  Fred Jackson was probably the best RB Bills had at blocking.

Thurman was the Bills GOAT at blocking as a RB...only other running back I would put over him at blocking was Walter Payton

[RoyBatty is alive]

OJ wasn't very good his first few years as a Bill because his first HC, John Rauch had the brilliant idea of using OJ mainly as a decoy and things didn't improve much the next year under Harvey Johnson, arguably our worst HC ever.  It was Lou Saban that saved OJs career and made him the mainstay of the offense.

[BillsShredder83]

5 hours ago, Wacka said:

 

OJ  hurt his knee in his second year returning kickoffs (I believe). Didn't do that after .  Saw him in person  from 73 onwards. He was an excellent running back, but really didn't catch. I read a book on him and they showed some pictures from a Colts game.  Five Colts had him basically surrounded in the backfield on his own 32.  The next picture is them on the ground and OJ running ahead of them.  Five other Colts had a shot at him on the way to a touchdown in that play. Thurman  Thomas was a better all around player. Thurman has all the team records for a running back except rushing yards in a game and a season. 

How wild lol in the 70s this sounds like the equivalent of Josh returning kicks (which admittedly sounds kinda fun if Injuries are turned off)

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 hour ago, BillsShredder83 said:

How wild lol in the 70s this sounds like the equivalent of Josh returning kicks (which admittedly sounds kinda fun if Injuries are turned off)

OJ was a GREAT returner.  Every time you felt like he could take it all the way.  He averaged 30 yards a kickoff return.  I just looked at Devon Hester career stats, he averaged 24.9 yards/return.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=oj+simpson+touchdown+kickoff+return+touchdown&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS931US931&oq=oj+simpson+toudcdown+kickoff+retyurn&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j33i10i160l3j33i10i299.12847j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ee98d080,vid:YghNQOm4-h4

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by RoyBatty is alive

[BillsShredder83]

3 hours ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

OJ was a GREAT returner.  Every time you felt like he could take it all the way.  He averaged 30 yards a kickoff return.  I just looked at Devon Hester career stats, he averaged 24.9 yards/return.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=oj+simpson+touchdown+kickoff+return+touchdown&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS931US931&oq=oj+simpson+toudcdown+kickoff+retyurn&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j33i10i160l3j33i10i299.12847j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ee98d080,vid:YghNQOm4-h4

 

That's how Dean Cain got hurt in Buff too wasn't it? 

[Pete]

10 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

Thurman was the Bills GOAT at blocking as a RB...only other running back I would put over him at blocking was Walter Payton

Cookie Gilchrist 

[Just Jack]

On 6/2/2023 at 6:41 PM, BillsShredder83 said:

That's how Dean Cain got hurt in Buff too wasn't it? 

 

He was a free agent, got a knee injury during training camp.  

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 minutes ago, Just Jack said:

 

He was a free agent, got a knee injury during training camp.  

 

A shower mat was his green Kryptonite? 😳🤔

*
Oh, that was Kolb, not Cain.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Ridgewaycynic2013

[Mike in Horseheads]

34 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

A shower mat was his green Kryptonite? 😳🤔

*
Oh, that was Kolb, not Cain.

Lets get our bath mats correct Ridge, your better than that

[Wacka]

Loved that someone said "Don't cross Marv, he cut Superman!"