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Before OJ Simpson became a household name because of that other thing that happened in 1994; he was a Heisman Trophy winner at USC (1968 season). Simpson was chosen by the Buffalo Bills as the first draft pick in 1969, but his first three seasons in the NFL were somewhat disappointing.
A New Coach and The Juice is Loose!
In 1972 Lou Saban became the coach of the Bills, and he tailored the offense around OJ. That year Simpson led the NFL in rushing with 1,251 yards. In 1971, his previous best season, he only rushed for 742 yards.
On September 16, 1973, in the season opener against New England, OJ rushed for 250 yards, tying the NFL single game record.
Buffalo won the game 31-13 and went on to finish the season 9-5, second in the AFC East, a big improvement over their 4-9-1 finish in 1972.
Playing a 14 game schedule in 1973, Simpson rushed for what was then an NFL season total record of 2,003 yards.
In 1984 Eric Dickerson broke Simpson’s record, rushing 2,105 yards, but he did not reach the 2,000 yard plateau until the 15th game of the season. Five other players have also rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a season, but all of them did it in 16 games.
Adrian Peterson now holds the NFL single game rushing record. He ran the ball for 296 yards on November 4, 2007.