The news hit hard for Joe DeLamielleure — his former teammate and friend, O.J. Simpson, was dead at the age of 76 after a battle with cancer.

"[A feeling of] melancholy, I guess," DeLamielleure said. "[It's] just sad because his whole life was a tragedy how it turned out."

Long before Simpson was acquitted on murder charges in the death of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, DeLamielleure got to know him as a rookie guard with the Buffalo Bills in 1973.

That year, behind "Joe D" and the famed "Electric Company" offensive line, Simpson won the NFL MVP award after rushing for a single-season record at the time of 2,003 yards.

"And you hear the crowd just roar. You know he hit the hole. Damn, there he goes again," DeLamielleure said. "It was really a lot of fun playing with him. He was like Muhammad Ali [and] Jim Brown. He was the real icon for the '70s."

Simpson played nine seasons with the Bills before moving on to finish his Pro Football Hall-of-Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers.

DeLamielleure credits blocking for Simpson for his own Hall-of-Fame legacy.

"I would never have been in the Hall of Fame without him. He was always O.J., but until he got a line in front of him, then he was O.J. and he broke all the records," he said. "So I know without O.J. I would’ve had a hard time being in the Hall of Fame."

Even though Simpson achieved rock-star status in Buffalo and beyond as a football player, actor and broadcaster, DeLamielleure found him to be a humble friend and teammate.

So it came with great shock and sadness when Simpson was charged with murder and years later spent time in prison in a separate case. 

"We watched every moment of that trial," he said. "It’s hard to believe. It’s hard to believe that this is going on."

DeLamielleure said he spoke with Simpson about a month ago to wish him well in his battle with cancer and Simpson told him, "I’m going to beat this."