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Damn. If so that's crazy. I'll take your word for it. Super human this guy was...
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=14869826
Damn. If so that's crazy. I'll take your word for it. Super human this guy was...
I think if he had done football exclusively and not gotten that freak injury he would have shattered the rushing record.
pretty sure he wanted to play football more than baseball though. just his refusal to blay for Tampa Bay after what they did to him forced him to go to baseball firstGOAT-tier athlete. Overall just an above average baseball player. Amazing outfielder with incredible power at the plate, but also had several holes in his swing that made him a meh hitter. Deciding to play football on the side might seem like a mistake because of the injury, but he really wouldn't have been a that big of a deal if he hadn't. Instead he was the absolute shit for a couple years.
I think ESPN Sports Century had Bo talk about building up his throwing arm via throwing rocks through screendoors as a naughty kid.ESPN's 30 for 30 had an interesting quip.
One interviewer stated that if Bo was playing today, he would not have been seen as a super-star. Rather, everyone would point fingers at him stating "He's on PEDs!" No one would be able to accept that someone was so good at two sports.
I'm not sure if that is true, but I do have doubts that the owners of the Raiders or Royals would let Bo play in another league. After all, if I am investing millions in him, I don't want my investment getting hurt by playing another sport at the highest level.
ESPN's 30 for 30 had an interesting quip.
One interviewer stated that if Bo was playing today, he would not have been seen as a super-star. Rather, everyone would point fingers at him stating "He's on PEDs!" No one would be able to accept that someone was so good at two sports.
I think ESPN Sports Century had Bo talk about building up his throwing arm via throwing rocks through screendoors as a naughty kid.
I watched the 30 for 30 tonight and I couldn't help but remembering this...
I was a diver at Auburn in 87-90... And I had just missed Bo's hay day here at Auburn. But I would love to share a story about something I saw Bo do that solidified him in my mind as the greatest natural athlete I've seen.
We all know about Bo's incredible football career and baseball career... He was amazingly strong and amazing fast... His hand eye coordination was second to none...
Being a multiple sport athlete in high school... football, baseball, track, and diving... I know a little about what it takes to be elite in all of those sports...
In reality, I was too small and too slow at the time to ever seriously compete at any of those sports at the D-1 level... Except for Diving...
Anyway... Diving is a sport that very few people have a gift for mainly because it takes a tremendous amount of kinesthetic awareness... (knowing where your body is in space) It all happens in a micro seconds... And it takes a very long time to master.
So just to digress for a second.... Coach Mel Rosen was the track coach at the time and being an athlete a lot of us took classes that he taught... He loved to test different athletes from different sports and put us in unusual situations... He liked to make us compete against each other in funny obstacle courses or drills...
Obviously most of the football and track guys would smoke the swimmers, divers, baseball players and basketball players in the speed drills. But when it came to kinesthetic type of drills most football, and other athletes were terrible...
So I always thought to myself when they beat me... Well... those football guys are fast and strong but they could NEVER do what I do in the air...
Well... One day I came to practice and there was a lot of commotion going in the auxiliary gym... So I poked my head in to see what was going on...
They were shooting one of those Nike Commercials we all came to love... "BO KNOWS"...
To me it was incredible to watch. I'd never seen Bo that close in person before. He was dunking and slamming a ball so easy it wasn't even funny... I was in complete awe... I would have stayed and watched him all night but I didn't want to be late for practice so I bailed and went to the pool...
About an hour into our practice... Bo walks in... Needless to say it stopped practice a second, we couldn't believe Bo wanted to watch us... He asked the our coach if he could stay and of course he said "yes!"
I don't know about the other divers but I was doing my best to impress him... We were doing our optionals (which are basically all of our multiple flipping and twisting dives ... 2 1/2's ... 3 1/2's things like that)
Anyway after watching us dive for a while BO walks over to our coach and says "Hey do you think I can try that?"
Our coach looks around and says "Sure... why not." So BO disappears for a while... Then comes back in some shorts...
I remember looking at one of my teammates and saying "This should be good... I bet BO doesn't KNOW DIVING!"
99% of the people who have zero experience in diving ALWAYS wipe out and it's ALWAYS good for a laugh...
So we all kinda cleared the boards so we could watch BO play around...
But BO didn't start on the 1-meter like most normal people would... Bo goes right up to 3-meter...
I'm thinking "Bo is about to bust he ass!" - "I can't wait to watch this!!!"
So... BO bounces the board for a second... then walks back... he takes a second... then starts an approach...
He hits the end of the board remarkably well.... and throws a nice 1 1/2 pike... Really... REALLY HIGH..!
BO goes a bit long washing over on his back...
He comes up and of course WE are all clapping... That was pretty impressive...
I said to one of my teammates "WOW!!! That was better than I thought... but everyone can do a 1 1/2..."
So...
BO doesn't say anything... He goes right back up to the 3 meter... Bounces the board again... Then walks back for his approach...
He hits the end of board bouncing higher than most divers than I've ever seen and throws a FRONT 2 1/2 TUCK!!!
He kicks out perfectly and goes straight in on his head!!!
I about fell out of my chair... He comes up and we were all clapping in amazement!!!
I looked at my teammate and before I could say a word... My teammate says... "DUDE... BO KNOWS WHATEVER BO WANTS TO KNOW... WOW!"
BO who has ZERO experience in a sport... walks in watches it for a few minutes and then pulls off something as complex as a front 2 1/2... I couldn't @#$@ing believe my EYES!!!
From that moment on... I knew I had just witnessed something so special that I would never see the likes of it for the rest of my life...
BO JACKSON just blew my theory that a football player could "never do what I do" right out of the water in a matter of a few bounces!!!
You guys may or may not care about this story but I can assure you it is very true... I still think back on how effortless it was for Bo to pull that off... And I just say WOW!!!
To be fair, it's not like they really test seriously today either. PEDs or not, it was a level playing field and he was a freak athlete.THere is no guarantee that he wasn't on PEDs in the 80s. It's not like PEDs are a new thing.
You may be right. I don't remember the whole story. I just remember he was a fairly hot prospect in baseball and then became a mega star when he started playing in the NFL as well.pretty sure he wanted to play football more than baseball though. just his refusal to blay for Tampa Bay after what they did to him forced him to go to baseball first
it was something like Tampa invited him to their facilities for something and lied to him, telling him it was approved by the NCAA. It wasn't and Bo was declared ineligible for his last year of college baseball. bo thought they did that on purpose so he wouldnt choose to play baseballYou may be right. I don't remember the whole story. I just remember he was a fairly hot prospect in baseball and then became a mega star when he started playing in the NFL as well.