Video Is Worth A Thousand Words: O.J. Simpson’s 2,000-yard season
On December 16, 1973, O.J. Simpson rushed for 200 yards against the New York Jets to become the first player in NFL history to pass the 2,000-yard rushing mark for a single season.
In the wake of the continued dismantling of the Tiger Woods persona, I can’t help but think of another prominent African-American athlete who like Tiger was once an advertising force and one of the best known and most popular sports figures in the country.
While I am certainly not comparing anything that Tiger has been accused of doing to what led to the downfall of O.J. Simpson, I do think there are obvious comparisons in both the swiftness of the fall and the subsequent revelations that the public persona was really little more than a false facade.
This week marks the 36th anniversary of the greatest on-the-field accomplishment of O.J.’s Hall of Fame football career.
On December 16, 1973, Simpson rose to a level of greatness that had never previously been reached. In the final game of the regular season against the New York Jets he not only broke Jim Brown’s single season rushing record of 1,863 yards, but went on to become the first player (and only in a 14-game season) to eclipse the 2,000-yard rushing mark for a single season.
While I recognize that it is now difficult to separate the on-the-field greatness of O.J. with the off-the-field actions, I do still believe that his 2,000-yard season was one of the greatest individual performances in the history of professional sports.
In another installment of our occasional series looking at great athletes and moments through video, here is a look at O.J. Simpson’s march to a 2,000 yard season.
I was 18 years old and although I've followed the game since, that was the last professional football game I attended in person. The wind chill factor was 40 degrees below zero and you could not feel your arms or legs. The crowd was almost exclusively Jet fans and almost all were cheering for OJ to crack 2,000 yards. The Jets were pretty inept that year (4-10) and although Namath give us a decent season the next year (7-7), there was not much else to cheer about. It is a tragedy what happened with OJ and he deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail, but in 1973, he was at the top of the world.
Steve, Thanks for the memory. That must have been a great moment to see in person, even in the cold. I remember watching it on TV and wondering if he could actually get to 2000 yards. At first they thought he was right at 2000 yards and then it ended up being 2003. I still believe it is the most impressive individual accomplishment in NFL history considering he did it in 14 games. Yes it is tragic that Simpson went to the dark side, but for that moment he was the king of the NFL.
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I had many cold days at Shea Stadium, and this was one of them. I spent the 3rd qtr playing tackle FB in the Met Bullpen. I was muddy, and my Uncle was pissed that I ruined his work Coat. I did bring home a piece of discarded sod from the back, that I said must have come from the field in '73 W.S.
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