OJ’s 1975 Season. Better than ‘73?

[Royale with Cheese]

3 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

He didn’t have as many yards, but he scored 23 TDs including 7 receiving, 5.5ypc, 15.2 ypc

You decide.

 

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I wasn't born.

[jwhit34]

1 hour ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

For a big chunk of '75 he was on pace to break 2000 yards again, and he also scored more TDs and was a more effective receiver... that was by far his most complete year as a football player.

 

Alas, that 1975 year has to be remembered as one of the greatest missed opportunities in Buffalo sports history. 4-0 start, then up 14-0 early at home on MNF against the Giants, looking like no one could stop them. Then.... pfffffft. They lose focus in that game, miss a chip shot FG then lose at the buzzer, and everything unravels. Defense evaporates (they blow a 28-7 lead at home against the Colts to lose 42-35, they play MNF in Cincy and the Bengals never have to punt), two painful losses to the Dolphins (of course... the first where a Leypoldt XP miss [he had a talent for inopportune shanks] haunts them in a 35-30 loss, the second on the Mercury Morris Fumble). Sigh.

 

What made it worse is that as the season unraveled, Saban got itchy feet complaining about management, OJ started talking about retiring to go into the movies, and dissension grew, setting the stage for the completely ugly collapse of the team in 1976. It would take years to get back to respectability. Can't help wondering how much would have been different if Leypoldt had hit that 19-yard figgie in the 4th quarter on Monday night against the Giants.

 

Of course 1975 was also the year the Sabres started the season like a house on fire (in a good way) and looked set to be a perennial Cup contender, only to fall apart in the playoffs against the damned Islanders for the first and not the last time.

 

(Yes, I was 8 then, and yes I have spent way too much time thinking about such things.)

The Golden Age of Buffalo sports was that 1973-75 or '76, don't forget the Buffalo Braves who had McAdoo. OJ and McAdoo were MVPs and Perreault was one of the top players in the NHL, the French Connection the best line in the league. 

 

I have long thought the '75 OJ year was just a little better because of the TDs and the receiving threat. Also in '73 the team was not considered a playoff threat so while they were obviously trying to win games, the focus was really on the rushing record. The '75 year was phenomenal because they were coming off a playoff year, expectations were high and opponents were gunning for them. 

[JOSH HUFF]

WHO CARES, HE IS A DIRTBAG!!  

[billsfan1959]

3 hours ago, Beast said:

 IMO, 1973 was better because the Bills had a decent passing game in 75. In 73 it was just stop OJ. The Bills had a pee-wee passing game in 73.

 

I have to agree. In 1973 it was pretty much "We are going to run the ball. Try to stop us." They literally averaged 70 YPG passing...almost by accident. Averaging 6 YC in that offense (even with that great offensive line) was amazing. In 1975, the team was no passing juggernaut, but they still threw for almost 180 YPG. What I like about 1975, is that OJ was also utilized in the passing game. I think it is close, but I am going with 1973 as his better year.

 

OJ ended up being a murding piece of ****; however, IMHO, I don't believe there was better running back that ever played the game. 

[RiotAct]

3 hours ago, Stranded in Boston said:

Jerry Frickin' Bergman calls it a non-fumble, and -- to rub salt in the wound -- slaps Pat Toomey with a 15-yard penalty for pushing an official out of the way to get to the loose ball!! My brothers and I almost smashed the TV ... This is probably a false memory, but I could swear that the Buffalo Evening News published Bergman's home address the next day!

took me a second ... 😅

geez, back then if someone wanted to go to his residence to do something nefarious, they’d have to bust out the old map book and basically use the sun to navigate there.  Or a compass, I suppose.

[Utah John]

1 hour ago, billsfan1959 said:

OJ ended up being a murding piece of ****; however, IMHO, I don't believe there was better running back that ever played the game. 

That's about the size of it.  He was a terrible man but an amazing athlete.  And I almost agree that there was never a better RB -- Jim Brown was the best player ever, while Simpson was the best player I ever saw in person.  Both Brown and Simpson would excel today, but it would be tough for either of them to get the stats they got back in the day.  LBs and DBs are much faster now.  On many of his longest runs, Simpson deliberately put himself close to a defender knowing he could outrun him.  Those runs would not work the same way today because the defender would stop him early.  That said, for the era he played in, he dominated like no other player.  Thanks for the memories.

2 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

geez, back then if someone wanted to go to his residence to do something nefarious, they’d have to bust out the old map book and basically use the sun to navigate there.  Or a compass, I suppose.

Considering how visually challenged Bergman was, I'm surprised he was able to find his way to his own house.

[sherpa]

Simpson was a remarkable athlete.

Somebody, some time ago, I think it was Sports Illustrated, did a thing about a concept called kinesthetic sense.

It discussed the ability to predict what would happen based on looking at what was happening now.

In short, in a sports related application, the skill provides one with the ability to foresee what will happen.

 

Kind of boring and complicated, but they talked about the truly great athletes. I remember them mentioning Larry Bird and Juice.

Bird could run a fast break, and remember where every single defensive player was, well after the break.

Simpson was the same.

If you look at videos of him and especially the ones that show his eyes, you can see that he is already not worried about the closest defender, he is setting up the next.

Great fighter pilots have that same skill, though it is a lost art.

The ability to project kinesthetic sense at a high level is a rare skill.

Simpson was like watching someone further evolved.

 

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, skibum said:

Definitely better than his '94 season. 

 

I don't know....he killed in '94

[nero1]

6 hours ago, Greg S said:

Only RB to rush for over 2000 yards in just 14 games. Sorry Eric but OJ has the real record for most yards in a single season. 

Brown had more than anyone in 12 games - 1863. in 1963

[Utah John]

30 minutes ago, nero1 said:

Brown had more than anyone in 12 games - 1863. in 1963

The NFL season in 1963 was 14 games, just as it was in 1973.

36 minutes ago, sherpa said:

Simpson was a remarkable athlete.

Somebody, some time ago, I think it was Sports Illustrated, did a thing about a concept called kinesthetic sense.

It discussed the ability to predict what would happen based on looking at what was happening now.

In short, in a sports related application, the skill provides one with the ability to foresee what will happen.

 

Kind of boring and complicated, but they talked about the truly great athletes. I remember them mentioning Larry Bird and Juice.

Bird could run a fast break, and remember where every single defensive player was, well after the break.

Simpson was the same.

If you look at videos of him and especially the ones that show his eyes, you can see that he is already not worried about the closest defender, he is setting up the next.

Great fighter pilots have that same skill, though it is a lost art.

The ability to project kinesthetic sense at a high level is a rare skill.

Simpson was like watching someone further evolved.

 

Simpson could do that because he knew he was faster than the guy closest to him, so he didn't have to worry about the guy right behind him.  Today, the LBs and DBs are faster.  Of course Simpson would have found a way to be better than anyone else today, too, just as he did back in the day.

[Utah John]

40 minutes ago, nero1 said:

Brown had more than anyone in 12 games - 1863. in 1963

Also of note, the NFL MVP in 1963 was Y.A. Tittle of the Giants, not Jim Brown.  Looking back that's hard to understand.  

[sherpa]

16 minutes ago, Utah John said:

 

Simpson could do that because he knew he was faster than the guy closest to him, so he didn't have to worry about the guy right behind him.  Today, the LBs and DBs are faster.  Of course Simpson would have found a way to be better than anyone else today, too, just as he did back in the day.

 

Simpson never worried about anybody behind him, and being faster than the guy closest to him didn't much matter either.

The guy had a gift. He was simply more in tune with what you could do to him than you were, and he would prevent it.

 

I saw him in practice about five times. He was at another level.

[machine gun kelly]

8 hours ago, Greg S said:

Only RB to rush for over 2000 yards in just 14 games. Sorry Eric but OJ has the real record for most yards in a single season. 

I’ve made this argument on NFLR and other outlets. No one has ran more yards in games than OJ.  He may be dispicable as a person, and I agree, but he had the best season of any RB in history.  It’s not even close if you look at the yards per game.

[st pete gogolak]

My God, how great is it to watch McKenzie and Joe D. leading those sweeps?  Just wonderful.

[ticketssince61]

I always separate OJ the player from OJ the person ...

 

I grew up watching OJ, and aside from Jim Brown who was before my time, I don't think any other RB in NFL history comes close

 

I think he had the greatest moves ever by a RB - only one who comes close is Barry Sanders. He had the most unique running style. You could watch videos of OJ's runs with the names, numbers, and uniforms blanked out, and you would still know it was OJ

 

When you watch the video posted, keep in mind that those are not CAREER highlights but just one season!

 

Everyone talks about his speed, but people forget how big and strong he was, and he was an unbelievable kick returner until he got injured returning a kick (against Cincinnati?)

 

I think 75 was greater than 73 because of his receiving yards. Remember in those days, RB's were not catching passes like today

 

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by ticketssince61

[sherpa]

Simpson had this technique that I've not seen anyone else display.

He would take the hand off, and if not immediately engaged, he would drop his shoulders to lower his center of mass, enabling him to cut quicker.

A kind of "glide" mode, waiting for defenders to commit.

Then he would cut and make the defenders miss, coming out of the glide.

Of course as an Olympic level sprinter, if he got away from the second level it was al over.

Just a special athlete and joy to watch. 

[klos63]

One of the amazing things about those season is how well the other backs ran. In 73, in only 6 games, Braxton had 500 yards, on pace for 1000. In 75, he had 823 yards. You knew we were going to run and it was impossible to stop us.

[Rocket94]

14 hours ago, nucci said:

I think he was better. That was amazing to watch him that year. No one could stop him. We just had no defense

I remember Simpson running around and through just about everybody! He was in a league of his own.

[GreggTX]

I know many will refute this, but in his prime he was as great as anyone that has ever played the game. The numbers don't reflect it, but when you watched him from the stands, you knew. He was a man among boys. He'd make would be tacklers look like drunken, stumbling bums. I remember a tough Eagles team playing us and at at the half, Philly's HC didn't make any speeches. He just walked up to the chalkboard and wrote "T-A-C-K-L-E". If he were playing for us today, we'd score 40+ points per game...easy. Keep in mind that he ran for 2,003 yards in a 14 game season, during which he had several games over 200 rushing yards. He set the record for most yards in a game on Thanksgiving against the Lions who came into the game ranked #1 against the run. It hardly mattered. He shredded them for 273 yards. They could do nothing to stop him.

 

Note:  The previous record was held by Cookie Gilchrist. (243 rushing yards, Bills vs Jets, 1963) 

Edited July 3, 2021 by GreggTX

[Augie]

15 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

He didn’t have as many yards, but he scored 23 TDs including 7 receiving, 5.5ypc, 15.2 ypc

You decide.

 

Click Watch on YouTube 

Thanks for some awesome flashbacks! I’m not sure what season it was, but I remember where I was and who I was with when he ran for 250 yards against the Patriots. I was ecstatic! 

 

Hard to believe he was later a guy who was in trouble for stealing cookies in prison.