O.J. Or Thurman: Who is the Buffalo Bills Greatest Running Back of All-time?

Well, it is time to take a walk back in time and compare the outstanding careers of the Buffao Bills two greatest running backs in team history - O.J. Simpson and Thurman Thomas.

Simply put, all personal feelings aside about any off-field incidents, which player is the Bills greatest running back of all-time? Before I answer that tough question, let's take a look at the careers of each player.
O.J. Simpson

Born, Orenthal James Simpson on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco, California, Simpson was drafted by the NFL's Buffalo Bills with the first pick in the 1969 draft after finishing 1-12-1 in 1968.

Simpson, a two-time All-American running back at the University of Southern California in 1967 and 1968, after playing at a junior college in 1965 and 1966, led the nation in rushing with 1,451 yards and 11 touchdowns in 1967 and 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns in 1968, earning the Heisman Trophy that year.

Early in his NFL career, Simpson struggled on poor Buffalo teams, averaging only 622 yards per season his first three years.

He finally rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1972, gaining a total of 1,251 and in 1973, Simpson rushed for a then-record 2,003 yards in only 14 games, becoming the first player ever to pass the 2,000-yard mark, while also scoring 12 touchdowns. Simpson then gained more than 1,000 rushing yards for each of his next three seasons.

Simpson's 1977 season in Buffalo was cut short by injury and before the 1978 season, Simpson signed with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played two unremarkable seasons before retiring

For his career, Simpson gained 11,236 rushing yards, placing him 14th on the NFL's all-time rushing list. He was named NFL Player of the Year in 1972, 1973, and played in six Pro Bowls. Simpson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Thurman Thomas

Born, Thurman Lee Thomas on May 16, 1966 in Houston, Texas, Thomas played collegiately at Oklahoma State University where he was a teammate of Barry Sanders. At Oklahoma State, Thomas had 897 rushes for 4,595 yards, 43 touchdowns, and 21 100-yard rushing games and was also a Heisman Trophy candidate in his senior year.

Thomas was a first team selection on the College Football All-America Team in 1985 and 1987. However, a knee injury damaged Thomas's certain first round pick status and caused him to slip into second round (40th overall) of the 1988 NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, their first choice in the draft that year. Thomas would eventually go on to become a wide receiver Andre Reed, which led the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.

Thomas led the AFC in rushing in 1990, 1991, and 1993 and was voted to the All-Pro team in 1990 and 1991. He was also selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1989-1993, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1991. Currently, he is 12th on the NFL all-time list for most rushing yards in a career.

Thomas currently holds the all-time Buffalo Bills rushing record with 11,938 yards and the team record for yards from scrimmage with 16,532. He is also fourth overall in team scoring. Overall, Thomas finished his 13 seasons with 12,740 rushing yards, 472 receptions for 4,458 yards, and 88 touchdowns (65 rushing and 23 receiving).

Thomas is the only player in NFL history to lead the league in total yards from scrimmage for four consecutive seasons and is one of only four running backs to have over 400 receptions and 10,000 yards rushing, joining Walter Payton, Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen. Thomas is also one of four running backs to have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 8 consecutive seasons along with Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith.

Thomas also set NFL playoff records with the most career points (126), touchdowns (21), and consecutive playoff games with a touchdown (9). Overall, he rushed for 1,442 yards and caught 76 passes for 672 yards in his 21 postseason games. In a 1989 playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, Thomas recorded 13 receptions for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, which was a postseason record for receptions by a running back and tied tight end Kellen Winslow's record for most receptions in a playoff game. Thomas is also the first player ever to score a touchdown in four different Super Bowls.

Thomas played for the Buffalo Bills for 12 seasons and when the Bills ran out of money under their salary cap in 2000, Thomas signed with the arch-rival Miami Dolphins. He suffered a knee injury on November 12, 2000 against the San Diego Chargers which ended his NFL career. After deciding to retire, Thurman signed a one-day contract on February 27, 2001 with Buffalo so that he could retire as a Bill.

Thurman Thomas was first eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. In that year, he made it to the list of ten finalists, but was not one of the six players elected to the Hall that year.

Here is a look at both players' career ststistics.

O.J. Simpson

| Rushing | Receiving |

| Year TM | G | Att Yards Y/A TD | Rec Yards Y/R TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1969 buf | 13 | 181 697 3.9 2 | 30 343 11.4 3 |
| 1970 buf | 8 | 120 488 4.1 5 | 10 139 13.9 0 |
| 1971 buf | 14 | 183 742 4.1 5 | 21 162 7.7 0 |
| 1972 buf | 14 | 292 1251 4.3 6 | 27 198 7.3 0 |
| 1973 buf | 14 | 332 2003 6.0 12 | 6 70 11.7 0 |
| 1974 buf | 14 | 270 1125 4.2 3 | 15 189 12.6 1 |
| 1975 buf | 14 | 329 1817 5.5 16 | 28 426 15.2 7 |
| 1976 buf | 14 | 290 1503 5.2 8 | 22 259 11.8 1 |
| 1977 buf | 7 | 126 557 4.4 0 | 16 138 8.6 0 |
| 1978 sfo | 10 | 161 593 3.7 1 | 21 172 8.2 2 |
| 1979 sfo | 13 | 120 460 3.8 3 | 7 46 6.6 0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| TOTAL | 135 | 2404 11236 4.7 61 | 203 2142 10.6 14

Thurman Thomas

| Rushing | Receiving |

| Year TM | G | Att Yards Y/A TD | Rec Yards Y/R TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1988 buf | 15 | 207 881 4.3 2 | 18 208 11.6 0 |
| 1989 buf | 16 | 298 1244 4.2 6 | 60 669 11.2 6 |
| 1990 buf | 16 | 271 1297 4.8 11 | 49 532 10.9 2 |
| 1991 buf | 15 | 288 1407 4.9 7 | 62 631 10.2 5 |
| 1992 buf | 16 | 312 1487 4.8 9 | 58 626 10.8 3 |
| 1993 buf | 16 | 355 1315 3.7 6 | 48 387 8.1 0 |
| 1994 buf | 15 | 287 1093 3.8 7 | 50 349 7.0 2 |
| 1995 buf | 14 | 267 1005 3.8 6 | 26 220 8.5 2 |
| 1996 buf | 15 | 281 1033 3.7 8 | 26 254 9.8 0 |
| 1997 buf | 16 | 154 643 4.2 1 | 30 208 6.9 0 |
| 1998 buf | 14 | 93 381 4.1 2 | 26 220 8.5 1 |
| 1999 buf | 5 | 36 152 4.2 0 | 3 37 12.3 1 |
| 2000 mia | 9 | 28 136 4.9 0 | 16 117 7.3 1 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| TOTAL | 182 | 2877 12074 4.2 65 | 472 4458 9.4 23

My Pick:

I will readily tell anyone within earshot that I used to run around the streets of Philadelphia playing street football, thinking I was O.J. Simpson (I was extremely at the time).

However, I have to admit, that this call was extremely tough for me - and at one point - I was going to name Thomas as the Bills greatetrunning back of all-time.

After my in-depth study, not to mention several conversations with many of my NFL sources, I have to go with Simpson as the Bills greatest running back of all-time.

First of all, Simpson played in an era when teams didn't throw the ball nearly as much - especially to running backs, lessening his receiving numbers immensely. Simpson also played in an era where teams played only 14 games per season, as compared to the 16 Thomas played perennially throughout his career.

Simpson's 4.7 yards, per carry throughout his career also surpasses Thomas' 4.3 yards per carry average and his 2003 rushing yards, for an amazing 6.0 yard per carry average, in 1973, when the Bills played half of their regular season home games outside in the freezing cold and snow covered fields, still stands out as the single greates rushing season by any NFL running back ever.

Succinctly put, while I feel Thomas is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, I just couldn't justify ranking Thomas over Simpson. I firmly believe that if Simpson played in today's era, not only would he have still put up incredible rushing numbers, but he would have also had more receiving yards and touchdowns.

No matter what I think of Simpson off the field (and I still remember arguing with my own father that Simpson committed those horrific murders) the man was simply magical on the football field - and the Buffalo Bills' greatest running back of all-time.