Okay I get it...most of you don't like O.J. Simpson. To many of you, Orenthal James Simpson is a murderer and a thug who breaks the law like the Seahawks drop playoff passes. Anyone who is under the age of 25 has seen photos of him in handcuffs or a courtroom more than in any other pose.

But for those of us with just a few more years under our belt, we remember when O.J. was magic on Sunday and one of the most prominent faces of the NFL in the 1970's. The man running through the airport jumping rows of seats in the Hertz commercials. The man every one of us wished we had on our team. The best Buffalo Bill player to EVER take the field.

Some of you will come at me with Bruce Smith. He IS the career sack leader in the NFL with 200 (two more than the legendary Reggie White, but Reggie did it playing 47 fewer games). He is an 11-time probowler and 8-time All-Pro; and was also a first pick by the Bills in 1985. But his was more of a career of being consistent for a long time time than being spectacular. His 19-year career was extremely long for NFL standards (279 games). He amassed the numbers he did because of the sheer number of games that he played. He never led the league in sacks averaged 10 1/2 sacks per season for his career. He was a great guy off the field too...but not the best to ever don the Bills uniform.

Jim Kelly, some of you will say, is the greatest Bill ever. After all, this H.O.F. QB did lead the Bills to four consecutive (albeit losing) SuperBowls and ranks 14th all-time in passing yards and 18th in TD's thrown. He went to the Pro Bowl 4 times and was 1st-team All-Pro once. But, he also never led the league for passing yards for any season, led the league only one season for most TD's (31 in 1991) and then followed that year up with a season in which he led the league with 19 interceptions thrown. Is known as a great guy off the field, role model, father, friend, better than average sportscaster and all around good guy - bust not the best to lace em up for the Bills.

Some will throw Thurman Thomas at me. His career rushing numbers were better than Simpson (12,704) and he ranks 12th all time in career rushing yards and also has 12 more touchdowns than O.J. and only trails Orenthal by one Pro-Bowl appearance. He is also now (2007 class) a Hall of Famer. But you have to compare him to his contemporaries at the time that he played. He never led the league in rushing yards or TD's in any season during his career and was only 1st-team All-Pro once.

Maybe your favorite is Andre Reed; the 7-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver. He ranks 8th in career receiving yards and 5th in career receptions. However, he was also never selected to be a 1st-team All-Pro during his career and never led the league in receiving yards or touchdowns in any season. Great guy with a great career - but not the greatest to play for Bufallo.

Now, let me make my case for the greatest Bufallo Bill of all; one, Orenthal James Simpson:

In only 2 years at USC, he rushed for 3,423 yards, scored 36 TD's andled the Trojans to a 19-2-1 record. USC won the National Title behind him in 1967 and he won the Heisman Trophy with the highest vote total (2,853)ever after finishing a close 2nd the year before.

He was then drafted as the first pick by the Bills in 1969 and went on to becaome a 6-time Pro Bowler & 5-time 1st-team All-Pro. He led the league in rushing four times and touchdowns twice in his 9 years with the Bills.

In 1973, he broke Jim Brown's seemingly unbreakable record of 1,853 yards in a season with 2,003 of his own. When he retired, that ranked as first all time and now still ranks as 5th.

He was selected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1985; his first year of eligibility. When he left the league, he was the 2nd leading rusher of all time behind only Jim Brown. He now ranks as 14th.

His contemporaries at the time are mostly all hall of famers which makes his records even more improbable and impressive; Gale Sayers, Earl Campbell, Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, John Riggins and Larry Csonka all played during Simpson's NFL tenure. Each of these are on the short list of the best that have ever played and O.J. bested them all.

The facts in this post don't mean that I like him or would like to play golf with him, but, based on his place in the recordbooks and performance against his contemporaries, I believe O.J. to be the greatest player ever to put on the Bills uni.

What'ya think out there?