The ‘80’s were a golden era in sports. The NBA had Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Track and field had phenomenal talents. Mike Tyson was rising in boxing and Sugar Ray Leonard dazzled against great opponents.
It’s possible though that the greatest athlete of that era was Bo Jackson.
Jackson rose to prominence as a running back at Auburn but when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did what he considered a bit of dirty business that cost him his final season of collegiate baseball eligibility, he vowed never to play for them.
He went with baseball instead, and became a sensation with the Kansas City Royals. After that, the LA Raiders drafted him again in 1987 after Tampa Bay’s draft rights expired and he began to play NFL football as a “hobby.”
Basically, he was close to being the best player in MLB and the NFL at the same time and the entire country was amazed.
Sadly, a hip injury ended his career in both sports in 1991, but anyone who saw him saw a freak athlete.
Negro League legend and scout Buck O’ Neil said that when he heard Jackson hit, he heard a sound that he had only ever heard from Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson.
His career was a comet, dazzling us before he disappeared. We will never see this again.
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