Incredible Bo Jackson story

The Paul Bunyon of modern times.

That would make Bosworth his 'blue ox'.

Bill Brasky

Jeff Janis!

In order of unbelievable super human feats.

1. Bill Brasky

2. Bo Jackson

3. Chuck Norris

4. ________________________

His 40 time of supposedly 4.12 is a bit of an urban legend, but most accounts say that he was legitimately clocked at 4.22.

6'1" 230, 4.22 40, Bench press over 400 pounds.

http://auburn.247sports.com/Ar...-1s-Bo-Jackson-23635

“He is, by far, the best football player I’ve seen in my life,” says Agee, who played eight years in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys. “It’s not just on the football field. He’d miss spring practice for baseball and wouldn’t miss a beat in the fall. He’d go in the weightroom and bench press 400 pounds like he’d been doing it all his life.”

With all that, the most impressive thing he may have done is what he did when he came back to play baseball WITH AN ARTIFICIAL HIP.

He played parts of 2 seasons (160 games, 485 ABs). His stats were the following after missing almost 2 full seasons:

He hit .250 with 29 HRs and 88 RBIs, with a .313 OBP, .463 SLG, and an OPS of .786.  

What could have been if he hadn't gotten injured or played just one sport.

In 1989, he played 11 games for the Raiders. If you extrapolate out his stats for those 11 games to a 16 game season, he would have run for 1520 yards and 6 TDs on less than 16 carries a game (5.5 YPA). This was immediately after a baseball season in which he hit .256 with 32 HRs and 105 RBI.

Of course, his best sport would have probably been track -specifically the decathlon. These are his HIGH SCHOOL times/distances.

100 meters (high school) 10.44  (10.7)

110 Hurdles. 13.81 (14.3)

High Jump. 6'10" (at 6'3", 230 LBS!!) (6-8)

Long Jump. 24'8" (24-0)

Shot Put. 50'1" (50-4)

The number in parentheses were 1976 Olympic Gold Medal decathlete Bruce Jenner's PRs - mostly when he was 26 years old. These are Bo's numbers as an 18 year old high school student without much coaching.  

Bo DNA vault.  

I sort of laughed at the Leonard Fournette comparisons to Jackson that I heard about when he first got to LSU.   Fournette is very talented, but Jackson was another level of talented.  Maybe the only thing you can say negative towards Jackson was that he didn't truly dedicate himself to football and that probably prevented him from living up to his potential.  There's no telling what he could have done had he put everything aside and focused just on football.  That said, the hip injury maybe could have come sooner had he done that.

The '80s were a decade that produced some athletic freaks.  You had Reggie White maybe the most freakish defensive lineman ever,  Barry Sanders maybe the most freakishly elusive of any RB, and of course Jackson. 

Herschel Walker was no slouch either. 

Dude had more quick twitch muscle than anyone to walk this earth. 

Um. Dino Zoff.

Dum dum.

MichiganPacker posted:

With all that, the most impressive thing he may have done is what he did when he came back to play baseball WITH AN ARTIFICIAL HIP.

 

Even though his Dr's told him not to continue his career. 

Blair Kiel posted:

Um. Dino Zoff.

Dum dum.

Sorry, for a second there I lost my mind.

fightphoe93 posted:

I sort of laughed at the Leonard Fournette comparisons to Jackson that I heard about when he first got to LSU.   Fournette is very talented, but Jackson was another level of talented.  Maybe the only thing you can say negative towards Jackson was that he didn't truly dedicate himself to football and that probably prevented him from living up to his potential.  There's no telling what he could have done had he put everything aside and focused just on football.  That said, the hip injury maybe could have come sooner had he done that.

The '80s were a decade that produced some athletic freaks.  You had Reggie White maybe the most freakish defensive lineman ever,  Barry Sanders maybe the most freakishly elusive of any RB, and of course Jackson. 

I couldn't agree more about Bo and Reggie and even though I didn't care for the persona Deon Sanders also belongs in that group.  Even though he missed it by 2 years James Lofton was a great athlete - just think if he could arrive in GB as a 24 W\R with Aaron Rogers throwing to him, he would have set records that Don Hutson would have envied!!!  

ChilliJon posted:

Herschel Walker was no slouch either. 

He collapsed a whole team for a decade.  

YI Pee!

ChilliJon posted:

Herschel Walker was no slouch either. 

Agreed, he was a freak athlete as well, though I think Bo was better as a pure RB.  He seemed to get in gear faster and maybe was quicker to find a hole or get to the corner faster than Walker.  

If I'm putting an Olympic bobsledding team together though, I want Herschel!!!

MichiganPacker posted:

 

With all that, the most impressive thing he may have done is what he did when he came back to play baseball WITH AN ARTIFICIAL HIP.

 

Big deal. I know a man who milks 15 cows who as an artificial hip and two artificial knees.

Oh, and I know a man who chases his wife around the house with an artificial erection.

"HE. COULD. GO. ALL. THE. WAY"!!

*wife gives him the Heisman denial*

Agreed that Bo was a better pure RB. And a better athlete overall. Herschel went for almost 2,100 total yards his last year in Dallas which is the reason Minny gutted their team to get him then didn't know what to do with him then got rid of him a few years later. 

25 years from now I'll watch this video and still shake my head that an NFL RB could make it look like he was playing against a DII school. 

What was most amazing about Bo, never has anyone had that combination of speed, strength and quickness. 

As for that video, kinda nice to have Marcus Allen blocking for you, and the safety that bounces off him was pretty good too. 

Oh, and I know a man who chases his wife around the house with an artificial erection.

You don't have to talk about yourself in the third person.

Chili,

Once you mentioned Reynolds, I immediately thought I knew the account you shared, but no.  There is another one involving Reynolds.

From:

http://kckingdom.com/2015/06/1...ckson-and-the-throw/

Jackson was known for mashing the baseball, but his outfield skills were exceptional as well. It wasn’t that he was the best fielder (a .962 fielding percentage for an outfielder is pretty poor), but he made plays that no one else could.

On June 5, 1989 in Seattle, Jackson made one of the those plays.

Former Mariner second baseman and current MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds was the unfortunate victim of Jackson’s Herculean effort.

Standing on first in the bottom of the 10th inning of a tie game, Reynolds took off for second on a hit-and-run, according to Jackson.

Batter Scott Bradley (whom Jackson later incorrectly identified as Tino Martinez) then laced a pitch off the left field wall, 316 feet from home plate.

So, with the speedy Reynolds (who had 250 career stolen bases) already moving, there was no way Jackson, or anyone, was going to throw him out at home.

Except, Bo did.

He caught it off the wall barehanded, spun and threw what he called a “pellet” to catcher Bob Boone.

Only one issue — Boone wasn’t ready.

Royals long-time scout Art Stewart, who urged the Royals to draft Jackson, explained during a TV special that the catcher had to scramble back to the plate to make the play.

“The ball never touched the ground…Boone said he was walking off the field and he said, ‘Oh my God, the ball’s coming,'” Stewart said. “And Boone stepped back, caught the ball and tagged Harold out.”

Reynolds mimicked a safe sign as he slid across home plate, then threw his helmet once he was called out.

Jackson said someone told him Reynolds asked who cut the throw and gunned him out on a play that would eventually preserve a 5-3 Royals win.

When one of Jackson’s teammates told him Bo threw it from the warning track, Jackson said Reynolds opined what we all were thinking:

“He’s (not) supposed to be able to do that.”

Here's the video of the throw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9wi_zvMdM

Fedya posted:

Oh, and I know a man who chases his wife around the house with an artificial erection.

You don't have to talk about yourself in the third person.

Shh! People will know that you are the wife.

Unreal.  

I ended up watching all the Vin Scully greatest baseball moments.

Vin Scully is a national treasure.

I sat next to him as a spotter in one of the Brewers '82 World Series games....we haven't stayed in touch.

I thought he took out a restraining order against you.

.....it had nothing to do with his missing wallet.

Stolen by Geraldo Rivera?

My wing man.

Goalline posted:

 

Big deal. I know a man who milks 15 cows who as an artificial hip and two artificial knees.

Why in the would would anyone spend the money to give 15 cows artificial hips and knees?

Ever been around cows? They are adorable.

justanotherpackerfan posted:

Goalline posted:

 

Big deal. I know a man who milks 15 cows who as an artificial hip and two artificial knees.

Why in the would would anyone spend the money to give 15 cows artificial hips and knees?

The prosthetics make this easier:

Well, today July 11 is  National Cow Appreciation Day. 

Goalline posted:

Ever been around cows? They are adorable.

Duh.

I went to U.W.M.

Mark Davis shopping for prime rib in 2005. 

Blair Kiel posted:

Goalline posted:

Ever been around cows? They are adorable.

Duh.

I went to U.W.M.

No!

Not Platteville big.

But pretty big.