OJ Simpson
Teams
Buffalo Bills (1969-1977)
San Francisco 49ers (1978-1979)
Playoffs
Appearances - 1 (1974)
Conf Champ Games - 0
Super Bowls - 0
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
Offensive Player of the Year - 1 (1973)
MVP - 1 (1973)
All-Pro First Team - 5 (1972,1973,1974,1975,1976)
Pro Bowl - 6 (1969,1972,1973,1974,1975,1976)
All-Time Ranks
Rushing Yards per Game - #11
Rushing Yards - #21
Yards per Rush - #24
Scrimmage Yards - #43
Rushing Touchdowns - #51
Total Touchdowns - #85
League Leads
Rushing Yards (#1-1972,1973,1975,1976, #3-1974, #6-1969)
Rushing Touchdowns (#1-1973,1975, #7-1976)
Yards per Rush (#1-1975, #2-1973,1976)
Rushing Yards per Game (#1-1973,1975,1976, #2-1972, #4-1969, #5-1974, #6-1977, #7-1970)
Receiving Touchdowns (#9-1975)
Total Touchdowns (#1-1975, #5-1973)
Scrimmage Yards (#1-1973,1975,1976, #3-1972, #5-1969,1974)
Yards per Touch (#2-1973,1975, #6-1976)
After finishing as Heisman runner-up as a junior, then winning the award as a senior at USC after gaining 1709 rushing yards and scoring 22 touchdowns, OJ Simpson was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the #1 overall pick in the 1969 NFL Draft.
Simpson's career in the NFL got off to a slow start. He didn't reach 750 rushing yards in any of his first 3 seasons, but after a coaching change in 1972, the offense was changed to feature him as the star, and he responded with a massive 5-year run, which started in 1972, when Simpson led the league in rushing with 1251 yards, finishing as the runner-up for Offensive Player of the Year.
His best season came in 1973, when he became the first player ever to reach 2000 rushing yards, gaining 2003 on the season. He also led the league with 12 touchdowns and 2073 scrimmage yards, and his 143.1 yards per game is still the record for any player in history. He gained a career-high 6.0 yards per carry on the season, and won both the Offensive Player of the Year and MVP awards after the season, despite his team not even reaching the playoffs.
A knee injury slowed him a bit in 1974, limiting him to 1125 yards, but that was also the season when he played in the only playoff game of his career, gaining 86 total yards and scoring a touchdown in a loss to Pittsburgh in the divisional round.
He was back at full strength in 1975, leading the league again with 1817 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, the best of his career. He also gained 2243 scrimmage yards and scored 23 touchdowns, both of which were records at the time. He finished that season as runner-up for the MVP and the Offensive Player of the Year awards.
He led the league in rushing one last time in 1976, with 1503 yards, and his 1762 scrimmage yards were also a league-best. That year, on Thanksgiving, he set a new league record with 273 rushing yards against Detroit, which stood for years but has fallen several times since.
After injuries forced him to miss half of the 1977 season, Simpson was traded to San Francisco before the 1978 season, which is where he had grown up. The injuries followed him to the west coast, and he retired after 2 seasons as a 49er. At the time of his retirement, he was #2 on the all-time rushing list.
Though he is more famous today for things that he did decades later, at his peak Simpson was by far the best running back in football. Nobody has come close to matching his record for yards per game from 1973, which is still 10 yards per game better than any other player ever. He led the league in rushing yards 4 times and scrimmage yards 3 times, and held numerous records during his career, and there is no doubt that he was one of the greatest running backs of all time.
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