WOW This guy was a ridiculous athlete. 6-1 230 pounds runnning a low 4.1 40
http://forums.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=6&F=...10&T=160568
http://forums.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=6&F=...10&T=160568
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Bo Jackson ran a 4.12 40 coming out of Auburn 1986 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter B-Scott
- Start date
KoolKat
Footballguy
Oh what could have been. He's the best athlete in history if you ask me. How he didn't make that ESPN Top 50 was BS. And I'm a huge Broncos fan.
Ozymandias
Footballguy
Hand timed.
And the timer had been...
...which tired his arm.
And the timer had been...
...which tired his arm.
massraider
Footballguy
gump
Footballguy
That was a classic.I always liked the Tracey Rocker interview that went something like this:Rocker: "Barry is the quickest back I've ever played against."Reporter: "Quicker than Bo in practice?"Rocker: "Quicker than...shoot! Bo don't practice!"I grew up in AL, and had a cousin who played high school baseball in the Birmingham area in the mid-90's. I traveled to a few of his games. At just about every stop, there was some local story of a Jackson home run...usually started off by the words..."do you see that light pole beyond left field?"
ImTheScientist
Footballguy
+--------------------------+-------------------------+| Rushing | Receiving |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| Year TM | G | Att Yards Y/A TD | Rec Yards Y/R TD |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1987 rai | 7 | 81 554 6.8 4 | 16 136 8.5 2 |
| 1988 rai | 10 | 136 580 4.3 3 | 9 79 8.8 0 |
| 1989 rai | 11 | 173 950 5.5 4 | 9 69 7.7 0 |
| 1990 rai | 10 | 125 698 5.6 5 | 6 68 11.3 0 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
| TOTAL | 38 | 515 2782 5.4 16 | 40 352 8.8 2 |
+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+
Bo Jackson never finished in the top 10 in any major category.
Bo Jackson is not in the all-time top 50 in any major category.
gump
Footballguy
Numbers don't mean anything...that's more true with Jackson than any player I can ever remember.
-OZ-
Footballguy
A lot of "IF's" in his post, but you don't quite prove him wrong. Not that the statement could be proven wrong. Bo is one of those players that dominated when on the field, but he wasn't on the field enough and his career was cut short.
Believed to be only 1 of 2 players to ever receive a perfect post career/pre draft scouting grade. OJ Simpson is the other.Besides H. Walker probably the best RB to come out of the SEC and it could be argued he, Jackson, is one of the best college RB of all time.
One of the best athletes and football players to come around in the last 30 years. Those are pretty decent career numbers, when you consider he shared that Raiders backfield with M. Allen all 4 seasons. Actually, Allen for 3.5 seasons and S. Smith for .5 seasons, as Allen only played 8 games in 89. His 5.4 YPC is not too shabby either.
Jackson was someone that you either liked or did not like when he was playing. I understand someone pulling out his stats to defend their point or feeling(s) about Jackson. Conversely, if you are old enough to have vivid recall of Jackson's college and professional sports career, then you realize this is one of those instances were the numbers are not telling the whole truth.
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Steelers4Life
Footballguy
I agree, and I can't really think of a close 2nd.
Capella
Footballguy
That's a horrible argument to attempt to make. Certainly you can figure out the reasoning behind that.
jurb26
Footballguy
His 99-yard touchdown run against the Patriots may have been the single greatest run in the history of football.
gump
Footballguy
In college...no doubt. Didn't translate to the NFL though.
The Houston Stallions
Footballguy
That is just SICK!!! No one could tackle him! And what speed!!Maurile Tremblay said:
T Man
Footballguy
Brilliant! Posting Bo's numbers to prove he wan not a top 50 RB because of his numbers.THe guy played baseball till Septmber or October. He started football without a training camp and still averaged over 5 yards a carry.The Scientist said:
The guy was a beast. A freak injury cut short his career.
nygiants56
Footballguy
I guess the `yards per carry` stat line doesn't count? would have easily been a top 3 RB , of ALL-TIME, in that category. in fact, when he got hurt and left football, I remember all the talk being that if he completed just more more season at the same rate, he would've had the highest YPC avg, EVER..yes, higher than Jim Brown ( 5.2)The Scientist said:
unfortunately, you need 5+ years and/or a certain number of career carries to qualify for these records. Injuries are a part of the game, but don't dismiss Bo as a second-rate RB..he was simply the best athlete to ever play the position. period.he got hurt. It happens. Had he finished a 10-12 year career , I'm sure we'd be calling him an Immortal Football Player. A top 5 RB, maybe only after L.Tomlinson, Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, and Emmitt Smith..
Darryl Strawberry was an outstanding baseball player who screwed up his own career, but I'd never consider him a second-rate baseball player. He was GREAT for the time he was in NY..same with Mark Gastineau, another great football player in his day, and he screwed up his career too, but you can't tell me he wasn't one of the best ever at his position.
Terrell Davis was an outstanding RB, then got hurt and it was the end of a career for him. I think he had the chance to be something very special , had he played a full career. He played a very limited time in the NFL, but made the most of it. Who knows what TD would have done over a 12-year span.
I know what you're getting at with Bo's stats, they are nothing special in terms of yards or TDs..but that ypc avg is to die for, its what you want in a RB. like someone else said earlier, put him on Troy Aikman's Cowboys, he's probably a 2500-yard guy..Same with Barry.
Weiner Dog
Footballguy
Yards per carry down??The Scientist said:
For reference, Bo's 5.4 yards/carry was better than Jim Brown's 5.2, Mercury Morris' 5.1, Barry Sanders' 5.1 and Gale Sayer's 5.0.
Monty Burns
Footballguy
He must have actually run closer to 300 yards with all the back against the grain moves.....That is just SICK!!! No one could tackle him! And what speed!!Maurile Tremblay said:
TheGreatest
Footballguy
I think it is safe to say that he had some break away speed.
RavensUNFL
Footballguy
I remember a story I heard Howie Long tell once about Bo, he said after the Raiders had signed Willie Gault (That olympic sprinter turned crappy WR) was the fastest man on the team, until Bo showed up after baseball season.
Even though Bo spoke about himself in the 3rd person, which I normally find very lame, he never did it to try and boast, he had trouble speaking and i think it was just a way to help himself out. But like Barry (Who I think is the greatest RB of all time) Bo was a very humble and respectful person which is what a lot of todays athletes will always lack (Obviously there are some, but not many of them).
If I had to chose a top 5 RB's list of All Time, it would go like this:
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Earl Campbell
Oj Simpson
Eric Dickerson
*If Emmitt had not played with one of the greatest offensive lines of all time, he would still be chasing Walter, I would include him in a top 10, but not MY top 5.
These are my top 5 of players I have actually seen play, and if Houston hadn't killed Earl in those first 4-5 years, who know's how many more yards he would have gained, as he had good speed and he was a load to tackle.
I love Bo, as a life long Raider's fan i would love to say Bo, but he just did not have the game time put in to be considered, I mean if i take in all the "what if's" then on pure talent he is a top 5 back.
Just my opinions on what I have seen, read and heard.
Even though Bo spoke about himself in the 3rd person, which I normally find very lame, he never did it to try and boast, he had trouble speaking and i think it was just a way to help himself out. But like Barry (Who I think is the greatest RB of all time) Bo was a very humble and respectful person which is what a lot of todays athletes will always lack (Obviously there are some, but not many of them).
If I had to chose a top 5 RB's list of All Time, it would go like this:
Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Earl Campbell
Oj Simpson
Eric Dickerson
*If Emmitt had not played with one of the greatest offensive lines of all time, he would still be chasing Walter, I would include him in a top 10, but not MY top 5.
These are my top 5 of players I have actually seen play, and if Houston hadn't killed Earl in those first 4-5 years, who know's how many more yards he would have gained, as he had good speed and he was a load to tackle.
I love Bo, as a life long Raider's fan i would love to say Bo, but he just did not have the game time put in to be considered, I mean if i take in all the "what if's" then on pure talent he is a top 5 back.
Just my opinions on what I have seen, read and heard.
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Although that cut-back at the 5-yard line would draw a taunting flag today...Thank You!
pigskin pimp
Footballguy
Also agree. For all of you number crunching geeks and kids who weren't fortunate enough to watch him play, this guy was a freak of athletic nature.Steelers4Life said:
nygiants56
Footballguy
Thank you. The best athlete I've ever seen. Does anyone have some of his baseball highlights? I remember watching from the stands when he launched 3 home runs during a July 4th game in Oakland in either 88 or 89, I forget which year, I just wish I had seen him play football from the stands. Am I the only one that remembers being able to audibly hear, from the TV not surround sound, entire stadiums breath in/gasp when he ran with the ball? Howie Long said it best once when he stated that God decided he wanted the earth to see the perfect athlete, and poof, there was Bo. Howie then stated he'd still take Bo on the ice though.
Wildman
Footballguy
I love quantifying a player's performance as much as the next guy, but Bo Jackson is our modern day version of the tall tale (i.e., John Henry or Paul Bunyan). You can choose to watch the film and see the fact the tall tale was mostly true or you can stare at the numbers and not see it.
I choose to watch the film and remember fondly...
Brown, Dickerson, Payton, Smith, and Sanders had the best careers. Simpson was close...an amazing runner.
Campbell, Sayers, and Jackson didn't have the best careers but on their best day/season, I'm not sure I'd take those other six runners mentioned ahead of these three.
I choose to watch the film and remember fondly...
Brown, Dickerson, Payton, Smith, and Sanders had the best careers. Simpson was close...an amazing runner.
Campbell, Sayers, and Jackson didn't have the best careers but on their best day/season, I'm not sure I'd take those other six runners mentioned ahead of these three.
Englishteacher
Footballguy
OK Scientist......What do I notice about the above stats?The Scientist said:
CAREER average of 5.5 YPC. That's in modern times. That's sick.
Let the guy play football full time every year and not have his career cut short by injury and eventually he sets some NFL records.
Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
I always like to refer back to this article every time I see one of these preposterous 40 time stories:
Link
Oh yeah, and Bo Jackson was the most amazing athlete I can recall watching in my lifetime. I have no question in my mind that he would have broken every record out there if had dedicated himself to football and stayed healthy.
Link
Oh yeah, and Bo Jackson was the most amazing athlete I can recall watching in my lifetime. I have no question in my mind that he would have broken every record out there if had dedicated himself to football and stayed healthy.
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gump
Footballguy
I don't know for sure...but I would think the second half of a Ben Johnson (or Carl Lewis) 100 meter dash is faster than the first half...and that a 100 meter sprinter would build up to that second half.
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Arsenal of Doom
Footballguy
You are correct but it's not just that they are splitting out the time evenly, they are actually analyzing the tape with the race timer to see where he was at various intervals. 4.38 is likely the fastest any human has ever run 40 yards. It's really all about the number though. That reported 4.15 hand timed 40 for Bo may have really been a 4.45 or 4.50 if it were measured by T&F standards, but it would still have blown the doors off every other football player that year.
ETA: The bottom line on this story really is that if you want to see how fast a football player is, watch him play football.
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Hairy Snowman
Footballguy
perry147 said:
Yeah, emmitt smith sucked in school. I actually got to see Bo live at Florida Field in 1985 I believe. That was his last year at Auburn. We were on probation, so the game wasn't televised. Bo knew enough to refuse to go back into the game the second half. Yes, he took himself out of the game. He cited the risk of injury. That was my first impression of Bo and, remembering back to my years of watching Walter growing up, I never really got passt that with Bo.People forget what a primadonna Bo was. He was a phenomenal athelete, one of the greatest atheletes ever. But extrapolating his numbers in football is pointless because IMO he never had the cohones to play pro football full time.
pigskin pimp
Footballguy
perry147 said:
Ed: How they biting, today?Joe: Not so much.Ed: Wanna play Euchre?Joe: OK
C'mon, Longhorn, you are smarter than that.perry147 said:
Interesting enough there is a highlight film a few slots down from the Tecmo Bowl run in the youtube queue that shows Jackson blowing through FSU's entire defense. It includes a nice shot of Jackson running past and through Sanders. If you are not old enough to have seen him play, I suggest watching the video. Nice shots of him laying a serious *** beating to just about everyone he played. I cannot get to youtube from this computer otherwise I would post the link. I think it was about 4-5 selections down and the video ran about 5 minutes.
