Bo Jackson: What Could Have Been?

I'm an Eagles' fan. I own 19 jerseys—all members of the Philadelphia Eagles. I would never wear a jersey of another team. But if I had to pick one jersey from another team to wear, it would be the jersey of one of the greatest running backs in National Football League history—No. 34 of the Oakland Raiders, Bo Jackson.

Vincent Edward Jackson was born in 1962 in Alabama. As a kid, he was said to be full of energy and was constantly getting in trouble. He was described as a “wild boar” and earned the nickname “Bo.”

Bo had a fairly difficult childhood. Growing up without a father was not easy for him. As he recalls, “We never had enough food. But at least I could beat on other kids and steal their lunch money and buy myself something to eat. But I couldn't steal a father. I couldn't steal a father's hug when I needed one. I couldn't steal a father's whipping when I needed one. Being the eighth out of ten kids, and being the one that stayed in trouble, I sort of became a momma's boy.”

Bo developed a stuttering problem as a child. He grew extremely self-conscious of his problem. His speech therapist helped him realize that saying his own name when speaking about himself reduced the amount of stuttering. To this day, he still talks about himself in third person—even titling his autobiography, “Bo Knows Bo.”

At McAdory High School in Alabama, Bo showed his unbelievable athletic ability in three sports—football, baseball, and track and field. In track, he won two state decathlon championships. In baseball, he slammed 20 home runs in 25 games as a senior. In football, he rushed for for 1,173 yards on 108 carries (10.9 yards per carry) with 17 touchdowns.

The New York Yankees were mesmerized by Bo's baseball talent and drafted the 19-year-old in the second round of the 1982 MLB Draft. But Bo turned down the Yankees' offer. He instead chose to accept a scholarship to play football for the Auburn Tigers.

Bo never regretted his decision to attend college and pursue an education instead of immediately entering into professional baseball. Bo says, “Your education can take you way farther than a football, baseball, track, or basketball will—that's just the bottom line. Don't sell yourself short because without college you can't go far in life because after sports the only thing you know is sports and you can't do anything else with that.”

Bo quickly became a dominant college running back. He rushed for over 4,300 yards and scored 43 touchdowns in his career. He set an SEC record by averaging 6.6 yards per carry—including 7.8 yards per carry as a sophomore.

Bo rushed for almost 1,800 yards in his senior year—including four 200-yard games. He was awarded the Heisman Trophy—defeating University of Iowa quarterback Chuck Long in the closest Heisman race in history.

Bo continued playing baseball in college, batting .401 with 17 home runs and 43 RBI in 1985.

He also excelled in track and field. He briefly considered joining the US Olympic team as a sprinter but decided not to because sprinting would not give pay him like his salary as an NFL player.

In 1986, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Bo Jackson as their first overall pick in the NFL Draft. The Buccaneers didn't want Bo to injure himself playing college baseball and took him on a private plane—costing him his college eligibility. The Bucs also forced Bo to choose between baseball and football.

Rule No. 1: Do not force Bo Jackson to do anything.

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