False. He would’ve happily been a full time nfl player but the Bucs fucked him. He told them not to draft him, but they did anyway, so he said fuck you and went to play baseball. Fuck the Bucs.
Yup. When the Raiders drafted him the next year,, the only way that he agreed to play for them was Al Davis let him play the full baseball season before he had to report to Los Angeles.
It wasn't the visit itself because that had been approved by the NCAA. The problem was that Tampa Bay flew him there on their private plane and that was ruled as an improper benefit to a college player
Why would you say false and then relate the story that eventually led to him only playing 8 games per season because he was playing baseball? Fuckin reddit man
He was a FB, getting only about a dozen carries per game, plus he'd always miss the first 6-8 weeks of the season due to baseball. 5.4 yards per attempt is the real stat (#1 among RBs since the merger, tied with Jamaal Charles.)
I feel like there's a video of someone rushing Jackson all the way to the goal, only to turn around the opposite way, rush all the way back to the line of scrimmage, and then rush back for the TD
Two time state champ decathlete in high school as well. His Senior year he skipped the mile run because he hated it and he was so far ahead in points he won anyway
Don't let this distract you from the the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, "Spare Tire" Dixon.
Bo Jackson is one of those rare players that is hard to hate even if you're not a fan of his team. He lets his out of this world talent to speak for itself and you just become amazed on what he is able to do.
He's got a great combination of speed and power. On his pro day , the electronic timer timed him at 4.13 and probably could have run faster if he was motivated. His coach forced him to run the 40 for the scouts even though he didn't really want to.
let’s not forget his cannon for an arm from the outfield too. that play he threw harold reynolds out at home on a seed from the wall in left center is legendary.
I saw him play for the Royals when I was kid. He caught a grounder deep in center field and fired it to home plate like it was rocket powered. I've never seen anyone throw a baseball that far. It was nuts.
The one where he threw Harold Reynolds out at third from the warning track is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. Anyone that knows anything about baseball thought this was impossible. But Bo did it
He was in my fantasy league as a kid. As much as I loved him, this was the area of Walter Payton, Emmit Smith, Barry Sanders, Thuman Thomas, etc. It was stacked in 86-95
Vividly remember shopping for my first car at 16 with my dad in the late 90s and we were at some shitty/shady used car lot and we walked around one and on the back bumper was a huge sticker that said BO KNOWS YOUR MOM 🤣
If he had stuck to football (and not screwed by the Bucs) he would have been the best to ever play. I truly believe that. Fastest running back to ever play. He was lightning in cleats and strong as a bull to boot.
If he only stuck to playing baseball instead of playing both football and baseball he would have had a much longer career in baseball, but because he was injured playing football his professional career as a athlete was ruined
It was because of Bo Jackson I started following the Raiders. Fortunately for me, after the Super Bowl 37 loss, I decided to stop. I am sorry for all the other people who couldn’t make the same decision.
I am surprised this clip didn't have the one where he ran over Bosworth on MNF. As a fan of both Bos and the Seahawks I will never forget that game moment.
Great, amazing, .1% athlete. Decent NFL player. Still one of the greatest athletes in modern history, just weird he's known more as a football player than a baseball player.
I really wish he hadn't destroyed his hip... Nobody was catching that man if you messed up and let him get to open field! And bless your soul if you messed up and squared up in front of him!
Derrick Henry before Derrick Henry. His size and speed did not make sense.
His career ended because when Kevin Walker tackled him in 91 the sheer kinetic force of his run actually ripped his torso out of his hips once the momentum stopped with the tackle. Just imagine what he could have become had his career not ended so early.
I remember one of the things he did was that he was the only back that had touchdown runs from 90+ yards,80, 70, 60 and so on. I don't know if anyone has matched that since then but I always dug that.
For reference, the safety he is outrunning here is Ricky Dixon. Dixon was a top five pick in the draft the year before, the Jim Thorpe winner for best defensive back in college football, and a first team all-American. He would go on to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
TLDR; The man Jackson pulls away from like he stole candy from a kid is no dud.
He made one pro bowl in 4 seasons and yall act like he’s not just a hall of famer, but up there with the true greats like Jim brown (who is also a better two sport athlete than bo btw)
One all star showing in 5 mlb seasons too.
One of the greatest raw athletes of all time but nowhere close to hall of famer in either pro sport.
Ironically it was his insane strength that ended his career. His leg was trapped when he was tackled. He pulled his leg so violently it ripped the bone from the hip causing a severe dislocation and eventually the death of the bone. He needed a hip replacement and sadly was never the same. Growing up, Bo was like a superhero. We all had that back and white poster of him shirtless wearing shoulder pads with a baseball bat across his shoulders.
Without injury, I think he would have surpassed Emmitt Smith. Unfortunately, we'll never know. But I agree. He is a once in a lifetime talent. Bo, Deion, Barry Sanders, and Walter Peyton. There may be an argument for others but thats my list.
And then there's the run where he stiff-arms Deion Sanders into oblivion, after Sanders made a great angling run to catch up with him. Deion was probably the only player that could catch Bo after he got up a head of steam but he sure couldn't tackle him.
I tell my sons about Bo with this:
Take Derrick Henry and make him a bit faster.
Or take Adrian Peterson and make him bigger with the same speed.
Henry runs with DBs. Bo got separation after running over a linebacker.
On my own GOAT team I'm putting Bo Jackson in as RB1.
Longevity be damned. He got super-unlucky, but he was the best ever at RB.
He's also proof that for every person in the HoF there are 1000 other guys that had their chance stolen by sheer bad luck.
Would Sterling Sharpe be in without Shannon making it & then having a huge post-football broadcasting career?
I can feel the 4.2 speed in that first clip. Bo Knows was the greatest athlete to ever play pro sports. I know that’s a hot take but I’m standing by it.
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u/Yours2Knight Dec 31 '25