BUFFALO — E.J. Flammer was a toddler when O.J. Simpson set the NFL’s season rushing record of 2,003 yards in 1973. The Buffalo Bills running back would become the boy’s hero in seasons to come. It was like that for a lot of kids growing up in western New York in the 1970s. Simpson was a shining light in rust-belt Buffalo, its hometown claim on Hollywood glamour.
Fast-forward to a moment almost 20 years ago when Flammer sat in a witness chair in Santa Monica, Calif., and offered testimony that would help convince a civil court jury that Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.