This book is not about OJ Simpson’s crimes, but it feels inappropriate to mention the Hall of Fame running back without also acknowledging his notoriety. In 1994 he was arrested for the murder of Nicole Brown, his ex-wife, and her friend Ron Goldman. Acquitted in the subsequent trial, he was later found liable for their deaths in a civil trial and wrote a bizarre hypothetical confessional book called If I Did It. In 2008, he was found guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping, for which he spent nine years in prison.
More than 40 years before he was released from prison, in 1973, OJ Simpson became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 in a season. It’s a feat that seven players have since matched but Simpson remains the only one to do it in a 14-game season. This book is about that 1973 Buffalo Bills season and the players who helped Simpson reach 2,000 yards, particularly the offensive line – nicknamed ‘The Electric Company’ because they ‘turned on the juice’.
Joe Zagorski interviewed Simpson and four of the linemen who blocked for him that year. The fifth, Mike Montler, died in 2018. They shed light on how the season unfolded and the growing desire to achieve the record as the games went by. The story is told chronologically with occasional asides to examine various position groups on the team, as well as some of the coaches.
Title: The 2,003-Yard Odyssey
Author: Joe Zagorski
First published: Austin Macauley, 2024
Buy the Book: Amazon US | Amazon UK
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The 1973 Bills needed an exceptional running game because they struggled to move the ball through the air. When they were good, they were a powerhouse, putting up more than 30 points in four of their wins – three of which saw Simpson rush for over 200 yards per game. However, the one dimensional approach probably cost them a playoff spot. They finished 9-5, scoring just 26 points in their five losses – two of which were shutouts.
Nevertheless, Simpson’s performance earned him the Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP awards for the first, and only, time in his career. It remained the reason he was best known until the murders. Zagorski discusses this with some of his teammates, who acknowledge that Simpson’s notoriety means they can’t take as much pride in what they achieved all those years ago.
Tackle Dave Foley talks about how he and his teammates were regularly invited back to Bills’ games so that fans could celebrate their achievement but that stopped when Simpson’s legal troubles began.
THE AUTHOR
Joe Zagorski is a former journalist and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Pro Football Researchers Association. He is a recipient of the Pro Football Researchers Association’s Ralph Hay Award for Lifetime Achievement in Football Research and Historiography. He is the author of The NFL in the 1970s (2016), The Year the Packers Came Back (2019), and America’s Trailblazing Middle Linebacker (2020). The 2,003-Yard Odyssey is his fourth book.
EXCERPTS
“In effect, Saban would have two outstanding offensive tackles lining up right next to each other on many plays, with Seymour taking his three-point stance alongside either right offensive tackle Donnie Green or left offensive tackle Dave Foley. This lineup in turn would make those outside sweep runs that O.J. Simpson enjoyed so much to become very successful. Yes, Seymour was going to be a positive addition for Buffalo’s running game.”
“Another thing that mattered was the fact that this Bills team seemed to revolve not just around Simpson and the offensive line, but around Braxton and the other fullbacks as well, albeit in a less public way. And regardless of the strategies that the fullbacks employed on any given play, Braxton, Watkins, Koy and Cornell were certainly going to be used by Coach Saban in the best possible way to benefit the Buffalo offense.”
“If you wanted to address the specifics for the team’s losses, however, you would have to fairly place at least some of the blame on the Bills lack of a passing attack. It was not that the Buffalo offensive linemen were not good pass blockers. Quite the contrary, in fact. They were blockers who spent most of their collegiate years working in the run-blocking mode, not the pass-blocking methods. But the offensive line would eventually improve at pass blocking as the 1973 season wore on.”
“‘I don’t need to tell you what happened [with Simpson’s post-football troubles],’ articulated Joe DeLamielleure, ‘but when it did, I felt as if somehow, my claim to fame had been blemished, and there was no way to go back to the old days. Needless to say, I don’t enjoy being asked about him nearly as much as I used to. Not only have the questions changed, but my feelings are entirely different. It just seemed surreal to me. How could the guy I knew and admired be the same man who stood there in court?’”
REVIEWS
Inevitably, the shadow of Simpson’s notoriety hangs over this book, making his sporting achievements seem trivial in comparison. However, ignoring what this Bills team did would be unfair to everyone else involved. The 2,003-yard Odyssey is a deep dive into a remarkable season that often zooms-in to play-by-play analysis of the dominance of the team’s running game.
Books like this often do little more than gather newspaper reports and interview quotes from the time. What sets this book apart is that Zagorski has interviewed many of the important figures from that team, including Simpson himself, so there are plenty of new insights here.
Overall, the book’s narrow focus means its appeal will likely be limited to Bills fans or those with a special interest in the NFL of the 1970s. Anyone in those groups, though, will find it fascinating.
Shane Richmond, Pigskin Books
“Like DeLamielleure, I recommend this book not only for Bills’ fans but for anyone who followed the NFL in the 1970s. It takes you inside the huddle with heretofore untold information and anecdotes about a great football player, a great season and a damaged and tragic legacy.”
John Turney, Talk of Fame Two
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