Bo Jackson (athlete)
| Bo Jackson | |
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Position (s): running back |
Jersey number (s): 34 |
| born November 30, 1962 in Bessemer , Alabama | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1987 - 1990 | |
| NFL Draft : 1986 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st | |
| College : Auburn | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Rushing yards | 2,782 |
| Average | 5.4 |
| Touchdowns | 16 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| College Football Hall of Fame | |
| Bo Jackson | |
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| Outfielder / Designated Hitter | |
| Born on: November 30th, 1962 Bessemer |
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| Strikes: Right | Throws: Right |
| Debut in Major League Baseball | |
| September 2, 1986 with the Kansas City Royals | |
| Last MLB assignment | |
| August 10, 1994 with the California Angels | |
| Batting average | , 250 |
| Home runs | 141 |
| Runs Batted In | 415 |
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Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962 in Bessemer , Alabama ) is a former American baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals , Chicago White Sox and California Angels , as well as American football - Los Angeles Raiders National Football League (NFL) players . The 1.84 meter tall Jackson is one of the few athletes who managed to pursue a career in the MLB and NFL at the same time, and the only one who was elected to the All-Star team in both leagues.
Career
Jackson was called in childhood because of his wildness "Boarhog" (Eng .: the wild boar), which was later shortened to "Bo". As a teenager, he pelted some of the local pastor's domestic pigs with stones, and as a punishment and probation measure, the clergyman forced him to attend regular school at McAdory High School . It was there that Jackson discovered his love for baseball, American football and athletics : he became a junior decathlon champion , scored 17 touchdowns in football, and hit 20 home runs in baseball.
The New York Yankees wanted to sign the high school talent in 1982, but Jackson chose instead to accept a college scholarship from Auburn University and join the local football team, the Tigers . In his first year he made a significant contribution to the 23:22 win against arch-rivals Alabama Crimson Tide , when he got the football just before the end of the game at 17:22 and in the fourth down on the goal line, literally over two storming Alabama- Player jumped and fell into the end zone. This maneuver was called "Bo Over The Top" (Eng .: Bo [jumps] over the edge ) in the Tigers history, and is considered one of the most famous moments in the football history of this university. As a running back he scored 4,303 yards of space, 43 touchdowns and won the 1985 Heisman Trophy . He was later elected to the College Football Hall of Fame . Quasi in his spare time, Jackson played in parallel for the baseball team at Auburn and achieved a batting average of .401 with 17 home runs. Although Jackson was considered the best football player of his age, he confessed that "baseball was his true love."
Since Jackson wanted to play baseball rather than football, he decided to only sign with an NFL club that let him play baseball. In the 1986 NFL Draft he was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the first player, while the Kansas City Royals chose him in the 4th round of the MLB Draft. Since the Buccaneers refused to let Jackson play baseball at the same time, he refused to sign a contract and was released into the 1987 draft pool. He played as a designated hitter for the Royals and hit two home runs with a batting average of .207 in his rookie season, where he was only sparsely used.
In the 1987 NFL Draft, Jackson was selected 183rd by the Los Angeles Raiders . Since the Raiders had no problem with Jackson's baseball career, he made his debut in the NFL a year late and immediately scored six touchdowns as a running back, gained 554 yards and impressed with his high average of 6.8 yards per run. In a game against the Seattle Seahawks , as part of Monday Night Football , he scored 221 yards of space and two spectacular touchdowns: in one, he knocked Brian Bosworth down with such force that he dragged the Bosworth hanging on him into the end zone , and at the second he ran 91 yards into the end zone, and demonstratively ran on into the catacombs and expressed that he was "unstoppable". This game is considered to be one of the most famous Monday night football games of the 1980s.
With colleague Marcus Allen , Jackson formed one of the most feared running game couples in the NFL. At the same time, his baseball career got better momentum: he hit 22 home runs and played his way into the regular team. In 1988 he improved to 580 yards of space gain with the Raiders and 25 home runs with the Royals. In 1989, Jackson almost doubled his career record in football to 950 yards, and he also established himself as a star in baseball: for the Royals he hit 32 home runs and 195 batted-in runs , making him the MLB All-Star Team and finished 10th in the MLB Most Valuable Player Award election . Despite his performance, the Royals missed the play-offs - something that Kansas City failed to do throughout his career.
In 1990 Jackson established himself as a star in the NFL. He achieved his career record of five touchdowns, reached the AFC Championship Game with the Raiders and was elected to the Pro Bowl . With this honor, he became the first and to date only player to be elected to the All-Star team in both the MLB and the NFL. In the game against the Cincinnati Bengals , he dislocated his hip after a tackle by Kevin Walker . During rehabilitation it was discovered that Jackson suffered from degenerative hip disease ( aseptic bone necrosis ) and could never play football again. In 1991 Jackson returned to the Royals and made 23 games this season, but was only a shadow of himself. His contract with the Royals was not renewed, and after joining the Chicago White Sox , he had an artificial hip implanted.
After a year-long hiatus, Jackson returned to the White Sox in 1993. In his first game, he hit a home run straight away and made 85 games of the season in which he scored 16 home runs and 45 RBIs with a batting average of .232. For this achievement he won the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award . In 1993 he reached the play-offs with Chicago, but failed directly in the first round: it was the only knockout games Jackson ever played in the NFL and MLB. In 1994 he played 75 games this season for the California Angels (13 HR, 43 RBI, .279) before ending his career at the age of 31. Another reason was that Jackson opposed the emerging steroid abuse in US professional sports.
The sports broadcaster ESPN named Jackson the 72nd best North American athlete of the 20th century.
"Bo Knows"
The late 80s and early 90s produced Nike a series of commercials featuring Jackson under the slogan "Bo Knows" ( Bo White decision ) in which Jackson's versatility was presented humorously. Under the eyes of u. a. Baseball player Kirk Gibson , footballer Jim Everett , basketball player Michael Jordan , tennis player John McEnroe , ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky and track and field athlete Mary Decker , Jackson tried their hand at each of the spots in their sports and was so good that the respective sports stars commented that Bo was in their sport ("Bo Knows Baseball / Football / Basketball" etc.) - until Jackson fails to make music with namesake Bo Diddley and Diddley complains: "Bo, you don't know Diddley!" (You have no idea about Diddley!) Later Spots showed Jackson as a surfer, racing driver, jockey, golfer etc.
This campaign, which ran for several years, achieved cult status . Nike Vice President Kris Aman called the "Bo Knows" campaign "historically important and downright magical". Jackson later called his autobiography Bo Knows Bo . Jackson says that to this day people see him as the “perfect all-rounder” from the “Bo Knows” spots and almost as a comic figure like Superman . a. the football video game Tecmo Super Bowl (1991), in which it is nearly impossible to tackle. Jackson himself resolutely denies being a "superman".
Private life
Jackson is married to his wife, Linda, and they have three children together. He now runs his own chain of restaurants and is a keen archer in his spare time .
Jackson is the eighth of ten children of Florence Jackson and AC Adams. His parents never married, and Adams left the family when he was a toddler. He spent a childhood full of poverty and hunger, in which he beat up playmates "out of anger and out of lack of money" in order to buy a sandwich with their money. The violence that earned him the nickname "Boarhog" and which he regrets today, he led u. a. back to the lack of a male figure of authority.
Web links
- Bo Jackson in nndb (English)
- Player information and statistics from MLB or ESPN or Baseball Reference or Fangraphs or The Baseball Cube or Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
- Career Statistics (NFL)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Bo Jackson reflects on past life 21 years after his All-Star blast , USA Today.
- ↑ a b Bo Jackson - Growing Up , sports.jrank.org.
- ↑ a b c d Bo knows stardom and disappointment , ESPN.
- ↑ Iron Bowl plays to remember, No. 2: Bo over the top , auburntigers.com
- ↑ a b Bo Knows Best , ESPN.com.
- ↑ a b Bo ran over Bosworth in '87 , ESPN.com.
- ↑ Top N. American athletes of the century , ESPN.com.
- ↑ The Greatest Athlete in Video Game History Returns Next Week , kotaku.com
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Jackson, Bo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jackson, Vincent Edward |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football and baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 30, 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bessemer , Alabama |