Bo Jackson

From Jim Thorpe to Deion Sanders to Brian Jordan, the sports world has seen several multiple-sport athletes.

But there was only one Bo Jackson.

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson never won a World Series. Bo Jackson never won a Super Bowl, either. He also wasn’t even a starter on the Los Angeles Raiders and he only played three years in the NFL. But he nevertheless was a legend among multi-sport athletes.

Jackson used to call football a “hobby.” This is coming from a man who won a Heisman Trophy and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998. He also ran for 2,782 yards on 515 carries - an impressive 5.4 average – and also scored 18 touchdowns running and receiving in the three years he played in the NFL.

One of Bo Jackson’s most legendary plays occurred in 1988 on Monday Night Football. Jackson’s Los Angeles Raiders were taking on the Seattle Seahawks and Hawks had a trash-talking linebacker named Brian Bosworth who claimed he would contain Jackson all night.

If by “contain” Bosworth meant getting run over by Jackson then he was right. On that legendary night, Bo Jackson rushed for 221 yards, flatted Bosworth and also took an outside sweep 91-yards untouched.

Amazingly, Jackson wasn’t even the starter for the Raiders. That job belonged to Marcus Allen, but the two formed one of the best 1-2 punches in all of football. If it weren’t for suffering a serious hip injury in 1991, who knows how great Jackson could have been.

Bo Jackson’s real passion was baseball. And although his .250 career batting average isn’t noteworthy, the 141 home runs he clobbered are. Jackson also finished his career with 415 RBI while playing with the Kansas City Royals (1986-1990), Chicago White Sox (1991-1993) and the California Angels (1994).

Jackson’s best season occurred in 1989 when he was selected to the All-Star team and even won the 1989 MLB All-Star Game MVP. Jackson also won the AL Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1993.

For his career, Bo Jackson totaled four 20-home run seasons from 1987 to 1990. He also recorded a 30-home run season in 1989 and a 10 RBI season in 1989.

As previously mentioned, had Bo Jackson stayed healthy throughout his entire career, he might have turned out to be the best multi-sport athlete ever. In fact, he still might have been given all he accomplished in just a short period of time.

Bo Jackson is one of the best athletes the sports world has ever seen.