In order to be a professional athlete it takes work, dedication and an extraordinary amount of talent. You must be willing to give every ounce of strength in order to excel and push your body to the next tier of performance. It takes relentless hours of practicing that one sport and becoming a master of it. In one very interesting and particular case, one man mastered two sports in a way that no one else has ever done. His name was Bo Jackson, and he was one of the most gifted athletes to ever step on a baseball field or a football field. You may ask yourself, why a person that incredible is not as well known as he should be and the sad answer is...injury.
His credentials before his career altering injury, A Heisman Trophy, a Pro Bowl Selection and an MLB All-Star Selection. He was selected as the first overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft and drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the MLB amateur draft. He holds the record for most yards recorded during a Monday Night Football game with 221 in 1987 and was the MLB All-Star game MVP in 1989.
During his best year as an NFL player he rushed for 698 yards on 125 carries averaging an incredible 5.6 yards per carry in only 10 games and as a backup.
During his best year as a MLB player he finished 1oth in the MVP voting and hit 32 homeruns with 105 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He was 26 and wasn't even being as utilized as much as he could have been due to his dueling careers.
Now hypothetically, taking an in-depth look at Bo Jackson before the injury that ended his career in 1990 as a football player and 1993 as a baseball player I have come up with a view on what could have been. In the NFL he was just beginning to bloom as a star, he was taken down in the prime of his career and was averaging over 5 yards per carry, just to put that in perspective a little, Barry Sanders averaged 5.0 and Emmit Smith, 4.2. If he had just stayed on pace with his minimalist numbers he could have reached 14,000 yards very easily, but based on his style of play it would have been much more likely for him to have reached 16,000. Ending his career with total like that, would have made him a Hall of Fame player without a doubt.
In the Major Leagues he was not known for his batting average, but for his speed and power. He wasn't utilized in the ways he could have been due to his two-sport career, but he was on pace for Hall of Famer numbers as a baseball player too! Before his injury he was averaging 33 homeruns and 100 RBIs per 162 games. Of course this is all hypothetical, but a career like that would have led to about 400+ homeruns, 400+ steals and about 1350 RBIs. And that would have been only as a part-timer considering he never played more than 125 games.
All in all it’s a tragedy that one of the greatest athletes to ever participate in professional sports was never able to complete the career that could have been the most incredible thing any one had ever seen. Unimaginable things happen, leading us to only ponder... what could have been for Mr. Bo Jackson.
His credentials before his career altering injury, A Heisman Trophy, a Pro Bowl Selection and an MLB All-Star Selection. He was selected as the first overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft and drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the MLB amateur draft. He holds the record for most yards recorded during a Monday Night Football game with 221 in 1987 and was the MLB All-Star game MVP in 1989.
During his best year as an NFL player he rushed for 698 yards on 125 carries averaging an incredible 5.6 yards per carry in only 10 games and as a backup.
During his best year as a MLB player he finished 1oth in the MVP voting and hit 32 homeruns with 105 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. He was 26 and wasn't even being as utilized as much as he could have been due to his dueling careers.
Now hypothetically, taking an in-depth look at Bo Jackson before the injury that ended his career in 1990 as a football player and 1993 as a baseball player I have come up with a view on what could have been. In the NFL he was just beginning to bloom as a star, he was taken down in the prime of his career and was averaging over 5 yards per carry, just to put that in perspective a little, Barry Sanders averaged 5.0 and Emmit Smith, 4.2. If he had just stayed on pace with his minimalist numbers he could have reached 14,000 yards very easily, but based on his style of play it would have been much more likely for him to have reached 16,000. Ending his career with total like that, would have made him a Hall of Fame player without a doubt.
In the Major Leagues he was not known for his batting average, but for his speed and power. He wasn't utilized in the ways he could have been due to his two-sport career, but he was on pace for Hall of Famer numbers as a baseball player too! Before his injury he was averaging 33 homeruns and 100 RBIs per 162 games. Of course this is all hypothetical, but a career like that would have led to about 400+ homeruns, 400+ steals and about 1350 RBIs. And that would have been only as a part-timer considering he never played more than 125 games.
All in all it’s a tragedy that one of the greatest athletes to ever participate in professional sports was never able to complete the career that could have been the most incredible thing any one had ever seen. Unimaginable things happen, leading us to only ponder... what could have been for Mr. Bo Jackson.
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