By Julian Kimble
There’s a new legion of football fans who know nothing about Bo Jackson, and that’s a travesty. After winning the Heisman in 1985, Jackson wowed pro scouts at the NFL combine by running the 40 yard-dash in a hand-timed 4.12 seconds—a record that still stands today. An amazing all-around athlete, Jackson excelled in both professional football and baseball, becoming the first athlete to achieve all-star status in two major American sports. Jackson also became a popular culture phenomenon during the late 1980s and early 1990s, thanks to Nike’s “Bo Knows” campaign, which naturally infiltrated rap lyrics. His Nike Air SC Trainers, better known as the “Bo Jacksons,” were a smash hit back then and remain very popular to this day. Unfortunately, a serious hip injury ended his football career and put his baseball career on hold. He managed to return to pro baseball, but he wasn’t the same player that he was before the injury. On Saturday night, after the Heisman Trophy has been handed out, the latest 30 for 30 film titled You Don’t Know Bo will air. Not even Bo knows how good he could’ve been had he not gotten injured.
Despite winning the Heisman and his showing at the combine that let the Bucs know they had to take him with the first pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, Bo Jackson considered football to be a “hobby.” He let everyone know that he was a baseball player, but the Bucs wanted to protect their investment, so they gave him an ultimatum—football or baseball. Jackson chose to play for the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals rather than the Bucs (not a poor choice at all during those days), and because Tampa Bay had given up his rights, he was eligible to be drafted again in 1987. He slipped to the 7th round over concerns about his commitment to football, but the Raiders were more than happy to select him. Owner Al Davis was cool with Jackson’s baseball career, as long as he joined the Raiders after the MLB season was over. Jackson made his Raiders debut halfway through the strike-shortened 1987 season, rushing for 554 yards and 4 touchdowns on just 81 carries as the second running back for a team that featured future Hall of Famer Marcus Allen. His finest moment in the NFL was on a national stage—a Monday Night Football game against the Seahawks during his rookie season. After Brian Bosworth—who’s NFL career was eclipsed by a mediocre acting career—ran his mouth about Jackson before the game, the 6’1″ 230-pound Jackson literally ran right over Bosworth on the way to 221 yards and two touchdowns. That came a month into his NFL career, and those 221 yards are a Monday Night Football record that still stands 25 years later.
Nike is brilliant. I realized this at a young age, because as a small child, I was completely aware of the “Bo Knows” advertising campaign and proudly wore my Bo Jackson cross trainers. A remarkable two-sport athlete is a marketing team’s dream, and Jackson’s status allowed him to penetrate popular culture with ease. Go back and listen to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario,” one of the best hip-hop tracks of all-time, and you’ll find that Phife’s first words are references to Bo Jackson—specifically the “Bo Knows” campaign. Unfortunately, once Jackson’s popularity began to fade following his injury, Nike ended the campaign. As one of the signature sneakers of the ’90s, people were salivating over the Nike Air SC Trainers, and they still retain that same popularity over 20 years later. I can’t say that the Bo Jackson’s would’ve rivaled Jordans in popularity if injury hadn’t shortened his career, but they’ve achieved legendary status in their own right regardless. There’s a whole generation of sneakerheads who never saw Bo Jackson play, but still go hard for the SC Trainers whenever a new colorway is released. That says a lot.
I was watching ESPN’s Numbers Never Lie yesterday, and Michael Smith, Hugh Douglas and Jalen Rose were arguing over who was the better two-sport athlete: Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders. Prime Time was a freak of nature who was fortunate enough to have a long career and is arguably the best cornerback of all-time, but Bo Jackson was a much better baseball player than he was. Though he only accomplished it once, Jackson is the lone professional athlete to become an all-star in two major sports, as he won the MVP award at the 1989 MLB All-Star Game and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1990. Deion was an amazing athlete, but he was far better on the football field than on the diamond. Jackson was almost even, and his baseball career was marked by amazing moments like his 1989 MLB All-Star Game home run (which was announced by President Reagan) and the infamous “wall run,” which might be the closest anyone’s come to doing real-life Spiderman shit on camera. It appeared as though Jackson might be headed for years of greatness in both sports, but a hip injury in a 1991 NFL playoff game brought everything to a screeching halt.
During a January 1991 playoff victory over the Bengals, Jackson injured his hip when he was tackled by linebacker Kevin Walker. Jackson allegedly felt his hip pop out of its socket, yet had the strength to put it back in its place, a true testament to his athletic prowess. The injury ended Jackson’s football career, but no one knew how serious it was. After surgery and rehab, it was discovered that Jackson had avascular necrosis, which would cause the deterioration of the cartilage and bone around his left hip joint. The Royals released him, and many dismissed his pro baseball comeback attempt as insanity. The Chicago White Sox signed him in 1993, and he silenced doubters by knocking one right out of the park in his first at bat. Though he hit 16 homers that year, the White Sox released him. He bounced back with the California Angels in 1994, hitting 13 home runs and a career-best .279 before the strike cut the season short. Jackson would retire during the strike.
If that hip injury never derailed his career, Bo Jackson would still be the mythical figure that he is today, but for totally different reasons. You can almost guarantee that he would’ve replaced Marcus Allen as the Raiders lead running back, as Allen and Davis had a falling out in the late ’80s that would lead to him joining the Chiefs in the early ’90s. Davis was supportive of Jackson’s baseball career, so he may have been able to finish his career with the Raiders the traditional way rather than having it cut short after just four seasons. It’s frightening to think about how good Jackson could’ve been, or what he could’ve done playing a full 16 games, but it’s also sad that we never got to see it happen. He’s not only the greatest two-sport athlete of all-time based on pure ability, he’s hands down one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. He was still inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998, and his legacy lives on through classic commercials and sneakers that outlasted his career. That’s pretty good for a guy who considered football a “hobby.”