A Great Running Back Passes

Today it was announced one of the best running backs in football history passed away. Orenthal James Simpson played professional football nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills, during which he executed some of the most amazing, jaw-dropping runs ever recorded by NFL Films. He was the first running back to rush for 2,000+ yards in a season and is one of only nine Heisman Trophy winners to win an NFL MVP.

I grew up in New York State watching #32 O.J. run around and through defenses as if he were a sleek cat gracefully alluding wild dogs. He was built to run in the mode of a Gale Sayers before him, and a Barry Sanders to follow. Throw in Adrian Peterson down the road and you have the gift that is a once in a generation running back. 

And we're not talking unstoppable power and size like Earl Campbell or Derrick Henry. We are talking juke-spinning, tackle-slipping quickness and finesse. There's no real name for it, but you know it when you see it. Call it field vision with instinctive presence. They had moves! And the guys I'm talking about consistently delivered those moves.

To watch these athletes create spectacular, escape artist runs on the football field was like watching poetry in motion. I'm sure there are others who could and should be included, but these four, playing mostly on bad teams, were undeniably the most entertaining and untacklable (if such a word exists) running backs to ever step on the gridiron. 

Thanks for all you gave us on the field of football OJ. 

Rest Juice, Rest!

July 1947 - April 2024

Was OJ Simpson THAT Good? - Heisman Season USC Football Highlights - YouTube

Buffalo Bills player will wear O.J. Simpson's No. 32 for first time in more than 40 years | Fox News