Shannon Sharpe defends activist calling for Buffalo Bills to honor O.J. Simpson

The Buffalo Bills opened their new stadium without mentioning O.J. Simpson, leaving Shannon Sharpe wondering what changed.

Simpson’s omission from the new stadium was announced this past June in a statement from team president of business operations Pete Guelli, claiming “he is not a fit” for the display. Simpson, who died in 2024, was one of the best running backs in NFL history, transcending sports as an actor and media member. But his public perception was reshaped in 1994 when Simpson was accused and charged with murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman.

With the Bills playing their first regular-season game at Highmark Stadium this week, activist and former Erie County legislator Betty Jean Grant has been the leading voice calling for Simpson to be honored in their new home, just as he was at the old stadium. And if the Bills are not going to honor Simpson in what they call the “Family Circle” at the new stadium, she at least wants the organization to be more forthcoming about their reasoning.

“If they had been brave enough to say, ‘We don’t want him on the wall because we think he got away with murder,’ then they should say so. They should say that, not just say he’s not fit. What does not fit mean?” the former legislator asked.

Shannon Sharpe spoke out against Buffalo’s decision when it was announced a few months ago, and he similarly aligned with activist Betty Jean Grant this week.

“In other words, y’all said y’all don’t agree with the verdict. I thought we were supposed to stand [behind] the verdict. I remember when George Zimmerman got off, the verdict spoke,” Sharpe said. “The jury spoke.”

Simpson was acquitted of double murder in the infamous 1995 criminal trial but was later found liable in a civil trial. More than a decade later, Simpson was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping in a separate case involving sports memorabilia, subsequently serving nine years in Nevada state prison. Considering his legal trouble, it’s fair to question whether Simpson deserves to be honored in something called the “Family Circle.”

“All that stuff that happened, he stayed up in the stadium,” Sharpe continued, referring to Simpson never having his name removed at the old stadium. “They didn’t take his name down in the old stadium. So, what happened between his death and now?”

They built a new stadium. While previous ownership tried to draw a strict line between on-field accomplishments and off-field legal trouble, current ownership didn’t seem to take the same approach with the new stadium. Bills leadership likely thought honoring O.J. Simpson in the new stadium would receive more pushback and negative press than not honoring him. One activist has thousands of signatures on a petition protesting that Simpson isn’t being honored in the new stadium. But the protests may have been louder if the Bills had unveiled a way to honor Simpson in the “Family Circle.”