Players like Brian Bosworth are what make college football so special. Colorful characters who speak their minds and whose outrageous acts of rebellion are part passion and part arrogance.
Deion Sanders was the same way coming out of Florida State. A player who thought so highly of himself and did such a good job marketing himself and creating his character that he was able to introduce his new persona, "Primetime," by the time he was ready for the NFL.
Bosworth was similar to Sanders in some ways and on the opposite side of the spectrum in others.
Sanders was a highly skilled, fragile, and speedy corner back who danced and showed off all the way to the end zone on his interceptions. He was someone who loved his persona and fan adoration more than he loved football.
Bosworth loved his persona and fan adoration just as much as Sanders did, but he loved football just as much. As the brash middle linebacker for Barry Switzer's Oklahoma teams, he was a strong, fast, and fearless player who was most likely to show off only after he hit the guy in the mouth.
Bosworth came to the University of Oklahoma in 1984 from Texas, the place where Oklahoma seems to find all of their linebackers. Although his arrogance and cocky attitude grated on some, his play on the field more than made up for it.
He led the team in tackles as a freshman with 133 as he led the Sooners to a 9-2 record. His penchant for playing his best in big games endeared him to his teammates and fans at Oklahoma, but his mouth alienated him from the media, who labeled him as a bad boy and a cocky thug.
Never one to shy away from criticism, he said whatever he thought whenever a microphone was in front of him. His love for media attention led to his ever-changing and popular haircuts.
Bosworth almost transcended football itself and made his play and antics more sports entertainment than anything else. But despite his colorful off-the-field actions, his talent on the field could not be denied.
An incredibly intelligent player, Bosworth was the epitome of a great middle linebacker. Not only did he always follow the play with a never-ending motor, but once he found the ball he made sure he threw all his strength into the tackles.
He was also a fantastic blitzer. He went through his assigned blitz hole with unrivaled intensity, and his ability to hide his movements allowed him to come through unblocked a lot, nightmarish stuff for opposing quarterbacks.
He built on his fantastic freshman campaign with an even better sophomore season. He once again led the team in tackles with 144. Bosworth was the vocal leader on a fearsome defense that was forced to carry the team when Troy Aikman went down with an injury against Miami.
In the Red River Rivalry against No. 17 Texas, Bosworth finished with 14 tackles (11 unassisted) and an acrobatic interception of quarterback Todd Dodge, the current head coach for North Texas.
After losing Aikman, the Sooners went on a rampage led by the defense and Bosworth. When No. 2 Nebraska came to Norman sporting the nation's best running game at 395 yards per game, it was up to Bosworth and the rest of the defense to win the game.
9 comments Last one added 12 months ago — Leave a Comment
Timothy Croley about 1 year ago
Good article, Michael. If you've seen my series All-Time College Football Team, you will notice in my Linebacker edition that I picked Bosworth as one of my top three linebackers of all-time.
I agree his NFL career went south like no body's business, but that was due to an injury, which has ended many a career in sports, professional or not. But as far as college goes, he was a beast and owned the game!!
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Ben White about 1 year ago
Good stuff.
Poor Boz, his career was all but ruined in the time it took for Bo to take the hand-off and plow over him into the endzone. Like you said, a lot of other players could have lived that down. But not someone with the personality of the Boz.
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Tim Pollock about 1 year ago
That was one of the best running back-linebacker meetings of all time...
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Michael Lemaire about 1 year ago
I agree that it was a good collison between two very large men.
But what I don't agree with after watching it happen 20 more times on youtube is why it is a play that sticks out in people's memory.
Watch the tape, Bo Jackson gets lower than Bosworth does, takes him into the end zone. Any running back worth his salt would be abel to get into the end zone if he got lower with a full head of steam. Its not like Bo runs Bosworth over and scores standing up.
Bosworth makes the tackle for a two yard gain, it just so happens the Raiders were on the one yard line, it just doesn't seem like that big a deal to me.
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elijah levy 12 months ago
ben thats crap his career was ruined from the start like ryan leaf
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Leon Wynn about 1 year ago
Great article. I've only seen a few games with him on the classics channel, but that was more than enough to make Boz stand out in my eyes.
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Ron Glover about 1 year ago
Deion Sanders may have been a little too self serving, but guaranteed every Sunday the opposing team's QB knew that one side of the field was shut down. I can't say that about too many players.
So the clowning may have been warranted. Like the saying goes, "It ain't bragging if you can back it up."
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Michael Lemaire about 1 year ago
Deion was fantastic no doubt about it, but he rubbed people the wrong way with that "Primetime" stuff, but overall, he could brag because like you said, he could back it up
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Geoff Townsend about 1 year ago
Best hair in college sports history! Boz will be remembered as one of the best to play NCAA football
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