Jackson, "Bo" (Vincent E.)
Baseball, Football
b. Nov. 30, 1962, Bessemer, AL
One of the few athletes ever to participate in two professional sports, Jackson may have been the best of all--certainly the best since the great Jim Thorpe.
At Auburn University, Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding college player. A 6-foot-1, 228-pound running back with speed, he gained 4,303 yards in 650 attempts and scored 43 touchdowns during his four years as a starter.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made him the first choice overall in the 1986 NFL draft, but he chose to play professional baseball instead. After spending most of the 1986 season in the minor leagues, he joined the AL's Kansas City Royals.
Although he batted only .235, he demonstrated substantial power with 22 home runs in just 116 games in 1987. When the season was over, he joined the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders, who had chosen him in that year's draft, rushing for 554 yards in 81 carries, a 6.8 average, and scoring 4 touchdowns in 7 games.
Jackson continued playing both sports through 1990, but he suffered a series hip injury in a post-season game with the Raiders, ending his football career and threatening his baseball career. After surgery and a rehabilitation assignment to the minor leagues, he played in 23 games with the Chicago White Sox in 1991.
The following year, Jackson had an artificial hip implanted and he missed the entire 1992 season. However, he returned to the White Sox in 1993, batting .232 with 16 home runs in 85 games. Continuing problems with the hip forced him to retire during the 1994 season, after he hit 13 home runs in 75 games with the California Angels.
During his NFL career, Jackson carried the ball 515 times for 2,782 yards, a 5.4 average, and scored 16 rushing touchdowns. He caught 40 passes for 352 yards, an 8.8 average, and 2 touchdowns.
He collected 657 hits in 723 major league games, with 96 doubles, 17 triples, and 138 home runs.
