Bo Jackson (2 Viewers)

[Raider Nation]

Name all other RBs in NFL history who had anything close to his speed AND power. This shouldn't take long.

Adrian Peterson, I'll give you. My thread about Herschel made me think of Bo, but even though Walker was fast and powerful, he didn't run with much power. He preferred to run past tacklers rather than run over them. He ran like a much smaller man, and he got a lot of criticism for that. Other than ADP, nobody else comes to mind quickly. Jim Brown was as powerful as they come, but his top-end speed was nothing like Peterson's or Jackson's.

Bo getting hurt in the playoffs against the Bengals is still probably the saddest moment in my sports viewing lifetime. It was like seeing a magnificent thoroughbred breaking its leg coming down the home stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Some people will say Bo was overrated, which is comical. He had a career 5.4 YPC, and in three of his four seasons, his long runs were 91, 92 and 88 yards. That's just STUPID for a man of his size.

For the younger FBGs, behold the greatness:

It's not exactly in HD, but you'll get the idea.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

People talk about remembering where they were when Kennedy was shot or the Challenger blew up.

I remember where I was when I saw Bo get hurt.



My favorite athlete ever.

"You watch too much TV kid!"

 

[Sigfawn]

Bo was a beast. One of my favorite stories isn't even a football one.

On June 5, 1989, Jackson ran down a long line-drive deep to left field on a hit-and-run play against the Seattle Mariners. With speedy Harold Reynolds running from first base on the play, Scott Bradley's hit would have been deep enough to score him against most outfielders. But Jackson, from the warning track, turned flat footed and fired a strike to catcher Bob Boone, who tagged the sliding Reynolds out. Jackson's throw reached Boone on the fly. Interviewed for the "Bo Jackson" episode of ESPN Classic's SportsCentury, Reynolds admitted that he thought there was no way anyone would throw him out on such a deep drive into the gap in left-center, and was shocked to see his teammate telling him to slide as he rounded third base.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

One of the 3 top Bo's in history.

 

[Raider Nation]

Bo was a beast. One of my favorite stories isn't even a football one. On June 5, 1989, Jackson ran down a long line-drive deep to left field on a hit-and-run play against the Seattle Mariners. With speedy Harold Reynolds running from first base on the play, Scott Bradley's hit would have been deep enough to score him against most outfielders. But Jackson, from the warning track, turned flat footed and fired a strike to catcher Bob Boone, who tagged the sliding Reynolds out. Jackson's throw reached Boone on the fly. Interviewed for the "Bo Jackson" episode of ESPN Classic's SportsCentury, Reynolds admitted that he thought there was no way anyone would throw him out on such a deep drive into the gap in left-center, and was shocked to see his teammate telling him to slide as he rounded third base.

Absolutely amazing. I believe I saw that one on YouTube as I was searching for his football clips. I doubt we'll see another athlete like him in our lifetime.

 

[Shutout]

Nobody close in those terms. I still rock out Tecmo Bowl every once in a while just to bask in the glow of "Tecmo Bo".

For the youngin's needing a visual, imagine Adrian Peterson fitted with the intensity of Ray Lewis, running at the speed of DeSean Jackson...nope! Wait a minute, DJAX ONLY ran a 4.31 at the combine and Bo is on record at 4.1 as an olympic sprinter....get the pic?

 

[Sigfawn]

Bo was a beast. One of my favorite stories isn't even a football one.

On June 5, 1989, Jackson ran down a long line-drive deep to left field on a hit-and-run play against the Seattle Mariners. With speedy Harold Reynolds running from first base on the play, Scott Bradley's hit would have been deep enough to score him against most outfielders. But Jackson, from the warning track, turned flat footed and fired a strike to catcher Bob Boone, who tagged the sliding Reynolds out. Jackson's throw reached Boone on the fly. Interviewed for the "Bo Jackson" episode of ESPN Classic's SportsCentury, Reynolds admitted that he thought there was no way anyone would throw him out on such a deep drive into the gap in left-center, and was shocked to see his teammate telling him to slide as he rounded third base.

Absolutely amazing. I believe I saw that one on YouTube as I was searching for his football clips. I doubt we'll see another athlete like him in our lifetime.

Video of Bo throwing HR out

Off the wall, throws it to the catcher, without even a bounce. From the warning track? Clip of Bo starts after about 1 minute.

 

[todisco1]

He was great, too bad we never really saw what he could do over the course of a career. I agree he could have been one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game, he looked incredible on the field, but he simply didn't play very long. Zero thousand yard seasons. I've heard people suggest he should be in the HOF, which is absolutely ludicrous.

If he wasn't hurt, I wonder how he would look compared to his contemporaries like Barry Sanders, Emmett and Marshall.

 

[Raider Nation]

He was great, too bad we never really saw what he could do over the course of a career. I agree he could have been one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game, he looked incredible on the field, but he simply didn't play very long. Zero thousand yard seasons.

You realize in his four seasons, he played 7, 10, 11 and 10 games right? Baseball got in the way.

 

[bryhamm]

Bo was a beast. One of my favorite stories isn't even a football one.

On June 5, 1989, Jackson ran down a long line-drive deep to left field on a hit-and-run play against the Seattle Mariners. With speedy Harold Reynolds running from first base on the play, Scott Bradley's hit would have been deep enough to score him against most outfielders. But Jackson, from the warning track, turned flat footed and fired a strike to catcher Bob Boone, who tagged the sliding Reynolds out. Jackson's throw reached Boone on the fly. Interviewed for the "Bo Jackson" episode of ESPN Classic's SportsCentury, Reynolds admitted that he thought there was no way anyone would throw him out on such a deep drive into the gap in left-center, and was shocked to see his teammate telling him to slide as he rounded third base.

Absolutely amazing. I believe I saw that one on YouTube as I was searching for his football clips. I doubt we'll see another athlete like him in our lifetime.

Video of Bo throwing HR out

Off the wall, throws it to the catcher, without even a bounce. From the warning track? Clip of Bo starts after about 1 minute.

Doesn't show the throw very well.

 

[azgroover]

I was just getting into football around when Bo got hurt. In fact, I remember watching that game in my early days of becoming a fan.

Does it seem part of Bo's legend is romanticized with the Tecmo ability as well as with how he was gone from the game too soon?

 

[Raider Nation]

Bo was a beast. One of my favorite stories isn't even a football one.

On June 5, 1989, Jackson ran down a long line-drive deep to left field on a hit-and-run play against the Seattle Mariners. With speedy Harold Reynolds running from first base on the play, Scott Bradley's hit would have been deep enough to score him against most outfielders. But Jackson, from the warning track, turned flat footed and fired a strike to catcher Bob Boone, who tagged the sliding Reynolds out. Jackson's throw reached Boone on the fly. Interviewed for the "Bo Jackson" episode of ESPN Classic's SportsCentury, Reynolds admitted that he thought there was no way anyone would throw him out on such a deep drive into the gap in left-center, and was shocked to see his teammate telling him to slide as he rounded third base.

Absolutely amazing. I believe I saw that one on YouTube as I was searching for his football clips. I doubt we'll see another athlete like him in our lifetime.

Video of Bo throwing HR outOff the wall, throws it to the catcher, without even a bounce. From the warning track? Clip of Bo starts after about 1 minute.

Doesn't show the throw very well.

Pretty good compilation of his baseball highlites here.

 

[Ballstein]

hersh. walker

 

[ericttspikes]

I was lucky enough go to a few White Sox games to see him play in person, when he was already a shell of his former self. I snuck down to some seats behind home plate one game and watched him crush an opposite field HR using only his arms. What could of been for this guy. One of the best athletes ever.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

Name all other RBs in NFL history who had anything close to his speed AND power. This shouldn't take long.

Adrian Peterson, I'll give you. My thread about Herschel made me think of Bo, but even though Walker was fast and powerful, he didn't run with much power. He preferred to run past tacklers rather than run over them. He ran like a much smaller man, and he got a lot of criticism for that. Other than ADP, nobody else comes to mind quickly. Jim Brown was as powerful as they come, but his top-end speed was nothing like Peterson's or Jackson's.

Bo getting hurt in the playoffs against the Bengals is still probably the saddest moment in my sports viewing lifetime. It was like seeing a magnificent thoroughbred breaking its leg coming down the home stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Some people will say Bo was overrated, which is comical. He had a career 5.4 YPC, and in three of his four seasons, his long runs were 91, 92 and 88 yards. That's just STUPID for a man of his size.

For the younger FBGs, behold the greatness:

I don't even think Adrian Peterson should be a given. He likes to run over people so much that at this rate he may end up flaming out like Bo did. How does Hershel Walker get praise as being fast and powerful in one sentence, and then he doesn't run with much power in the next? Can you unpack that one for me? 'Xplain me.

I remember Hershel Walker in the late 70's running for "big blue". He was a devastating runner who ran over and around defenders at will. He had 32 inch thighs, and ran fast and low. I still remember this man as one of the best overall packages of power and speed.

You correctly include Bo in the conversation of greatest power/speed backs. The things he was able to do in his short time were phenomenal. Only other back I can remember that was as beastly was Hershel.

ETA: Bo was to football what Sandy Koufax was to baseball

 

[mad sweeney]

There was a Tae-Kwan Do instructor in Phoenix that did a Tae-Bo like fitness routine long before Billy Blanks took it national name of Mack Newton. He'd had a hip replacement after an injury in Olympics or WC or something and developed his own rehab. Made him lots of money as he became a fitness instructor to several Cactus League MLB teams in Phoenix. He also had classes where a particular orthopedic surgeon sent some of his patients (he attended also). Mack's big athlete contacts made for a weird class because there would be Jay Novacek (who burnt out a LifeCycle bike), Canseco (who was as much of a ##### as you'd expect) and a few others, I think Gastineau checked out the class once. And then there were shlubs like me after a car wreck that still has my back ####ed up 20 years later. A long haired, secretly tattooed and earringed 18 year old doofus sandwiched in between pampered millionaires. And the class was brutal. I wasn't that far removed from being a football and soccer player in high school and I could barely do half of the class (to this day the Batman soundtrack, which was his music of choice although it was usually Prince no matter what, send me into instant muscle fatigue and sweats). It was brutal, but I rubbed shoulders with the elite athletes.

And then Bo walked in. Being that Mack had had the same hip replacement surgery Bo had, it was a natural that he'd be there. Of course he was only a few weeks out of surgery, but my anger towards him from the Bosworth Bowl was great and I put everything I had into doing better than him i the class. So that's my claim to fame, more squat thrusts than Bo Jackson! He was extremely nice, which made me mad because I was able to dislike Canseco but couldn't dislike Bo, even after making me so sick after that MNF game that I couldn't got o school the next day. All in all, he was a seriously class act for a once in a generation athlete that had just lost two highly successful pro sports careers. I always wished him well after that and now that there's distance between that game and now, I love watching his old clips (aside from the Heartbreak In the Kingdome) because that dude would've been the best ever.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

 

[Lash]

the. best. ever.

i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

 

[azgroover]

the. best. ever.

i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

oh come on. if true, they probably test for whatever helped him do that these days.

 

[belljr]

Bo was/is the BEST. he was in his prime when I was in mine

Garrison Hearst - Poor Man's Bo Jackson

YEAH I SAID IT

 

[DansRams]

Name all other RBs in NFL history who had anything close to his speed AND power. This shouldn't take long.

Adrian Peterson, I'll give you. My thread about Herschel made me think of Bo, but even though Walker was fast and powerful, he didn't run with much power. He preferred to run past tacklers rather than run over them. He ran like a much smaller man, and he got a lot of criticism for that. Other than ADP, nobody else comes to mind quickly. Jim Brown was as powerful as they come, but his top-end speed was nothing like Peterson's or Jackson's.

Bo getting hurt in the playoffs against the Bengals is still probably the saddest moment in my sports viewing lifetime. It was like seeing a magnificent thoroughbred breaking its leg coming down the home stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Some people will say Bo was overrated, which is comical. He had a career 5.4 YPC, and in three of his four seasons, his long runs were 91, 92 and 88 yards. That's just STUPID for a man of his size.

For the younger FBGs, behold the greatness:

I cried that day....the greatest athlete many of us will ever see. My favorite quote came from Pat Dye "Baseball thinks Ricky Henderson is fast...they don't even know what speed is" ...not the exact quote but close

 

[CalBear]

the. best. ever.i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

4.1, 4.08...if this thread goes on for a while he'll be running a 3.95.It's not plausible that Bo ran anything under a 4.2, and maybe not under 4.3. Bo's best 100 time in college was 10.38; Jahvid Best is faster than that, among other NFL speedsters.

 

[mad sweeney]

Meh, all I see are a bunch of missed tackles. #BeastQuakeHaters

 

[plyka]

Name all other RBs in NFL history who had anything close to his speed AND power. This shouldn't take long.

Adrian Peterson, I'll give you. My thread about Herschel made me think of Bo, but even though Walker was fast and powerful, he didn't run with much power. He preferred to run past tacklers rather than run over them. He ran like a much smaller man, and he got a lot of criticism for that. Other than ADP, nobody else comes to mind quickly. Jim Brown was as powerful as they come, but his top-end speed was nothing like Peterson's or Jackson's.

Bo getting hurt in the playoffs against the Bengals is still probably the saddest moment in my sports viewing lifetime. It was like seeing a magnificent thoroughbred breaking its leg coming down the home stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Some people will say Bo was overrated, which is comical. He had a career 5.4 YPC, and in three of his four seasons, his long runs were 91, 92 and 88 yards. That's just STUPID for a man of his size.

For the younger FBGs, behold the greatness:

I think that you're overestimating Adrian Peterson. I'm a HUGE ADP fan, huge. I can't believe how anyone would take CJ over ADP #1 overall in fantasy drafts. That said, there was no comparison between ADP and Bo in my opinion. I watched it live when he suffered the injury which cost him his career. The amazing part of that injury is that it didn't even look like an injury. They were saying that he was "day to day" and i didn't even think that he was going to be out the rest of the game by watching it. He literally just pulled someone along that was holding on to his leg. But that injury completely sacked him of his athletic ability. But a Bo in his athletic prime seriously had no equal. Absolutely amazing. I've never seen Jim Brown run, but I must think that he looked something like Bo.

 

[wiscstlatlmia]

so him or Lebron?

 

[wiscstlatlmia]

so him or Lebron?

 

[Andy Dufresne]

 

[plyka]

the. best. ever.

i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

oh come on. if true, they probably test for whatever helped him do that these days.

It was a hand timed 40 so it's not very reliable. He had a number of 4.1 40 times, but i don't think any of them were electronic. Still, it is assumed that he was the fastest player in the NFL and probably one of the fastest if not the fastest of all time.

 

[gethugefast1]

On January 13, 1991, during a Raiders playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Jackson suffered a serious hip injury while being tackled by linebacker Kevin Walker. The injury ended his football career and seriously threatened his baseball career. After Jackson was tackled and lying in pain on the ground, he allegedly popped his hip back into place. In an interview on Untold, his Royals' teammate George Brett, who attended the game, said he asked the trainer what had happened to Bo. The trainer replied "Bo says he felt his hip come out of the socket, so he popped it back in, but that's just impossible, no one's that strong."

BTW...Before returning to baseball, Jackson tried his luck in basketball; he played briefly for a semi-pro team in Los Angeles before quietly retiring to focus on baseball.

 

[Chreesto]

Nobody close in those terms. I still rock out Tecmo Bowl every once in a while just to bask in the glow of "Tecmo Bo". For the youngin's needing a visual, imagine Adrian Peterson fitted with the intensity of Ray Lewis, running at the speed of DeSean Jackson...nope! Wait a minute, DJAX ONLY ran a 4.31 at the combine and Bo is on record at 4.1 as an olympic sprinter....get the pic?

I loved bo as much as anyone, his greatness is beyond question. So please stop with the bogus 40 times. I'm only interested in hearing about 40 times that were digitally timed. No hand starts/stops for me. Bo Jackson was NOT .2 of a second faster than Desean Jackson. Bo doesn't need tall tales or myths to prop up his greatness.

 

[Moniker]

the. best. ever.i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

4.1, 4.08...if this thread goes on for a while he'll be running a 3.95.It's not plausible that Bo ran anything under a 4.2, and maybe not under 4.3. Bo's best 100 time in college was 10.38; Jahvid Best is faster than that, among other NFL speedsters.

Bo ran a 4.12 at the combine.

 

[Chreesto]

the. best. ever.i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

4.1, 4.08...if this thread goes on for a while he'll be running a 3.95.It's not plausible that Bo ran anything under a 4.2, and maybe not under 4.3. Bo's best 100 time in college was 10.38; Jahvid Best is faster than that, among other NFL speedsters.

Bo ran a 4.12 at the combine.

Hand timed.

 

[Moniker]

the. best. ever.i have no link but wasn't he clocked at a 4.08 forty at some point?

4.1, 4.08...if this thread goes on for a while he'll be running a 3.95.It's not plausible that Bo ran anything under a 4.2, and maybe not under 4.3. Bo's best 100 time in college was 10.38; Jahvid Best is faster than that, among other NFL speedsters.

Bo ran a 4.12 at the combine.

Hand timed.

Of course it was, it was in 1986. The NFL didn't start using electronic timers until the 90s, and they weren't fully used at the combine until 1999. Does this mean that he wasn't fast as hell?

 

[hauser42]

I was just getting into football around when Bo got hurt. In fact, I remember watching that game in my early days of becoming a fan.Does it seem part of Bo's legend is romanticized with the Tecmo ability as well as with how he was gone from the game too soon?

I disagree with Tecmo growing his legend even if he was the best overall player. Christian Okoye was by far better at breaking tackles but he did not have Bo's speed. Lott and David Fulcher were almost money for making a tackle when they hit a guy. Rice rarely dropped a pass, although I played in a Super Bowl against the Chiefs that he had no catches till second half. At least three cut screen misses in that half, dam college roommate beat me by 7 points for the trophy.Bo had it all going for him two sports and next to Jordan maybe one of the hugest ad campaigns every out there.

 

[CalBear]

Of course it was, it was in 1986. The NFL didn't start using electronic timers until the 90s, and they weren't fully used at the combine until 1999. Does this mean that he wasn't fast as hell?

It means he wasn't faster than current fast NFL players. He wasn't faster than Deion. He was extremely fast for a big guy, no question, and he was an incredible athlete. But he didn't run 40 yards in 4.1 seconds.

 

[Adebisi]

Bo Jackson was great, but Wade Boggs drank 64 Miller Lites on a cross country flight.

 

[azgroover]

Bo Jackson was great, but Wade Boggs drank 64 Miller Lites on a cross country flight.

More plausible than Bo's two second 40 that we're approaching soon enough.

 

[todisco1]

He was great, too bad we never really saw what he could do over the course of a career. I agree he could have been one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game, he looked incredible on the field, but he simply didn't play very long. Zero thousand yard seasons.

You realize in his four seasons, he played 7, 10, 11 and 10 games right? Baseball got in the way.

Sure, I'm just saying he didn't have any numbers. I mean how can people call him the "best ever?" I watched him play - he may have become the best ever eventually, but he never got a chance to. Saying he's the "best ever" when he never had a truly great season seems odd. I think the right way to put it is "what could have been".

 

[Txns8]

Edit:

That was awesome.

 

[notdarkyet]

I was just getting into football around when Bo got hurt. In fact, I remember watching that game in my early days of becoming a fan.

Does it seem part of Bo's legend is romanticized with the Tecmo ability as well as with how he was gone from the game too soon?

I was gonna pose the same question. In hindsight people remember those big highlights and playing with him in Tecmo Bowl and his being the ultimate "what if". I'm certainly not saying he wasn't a great player, he was. Just that his legend might preceed him a bit. He could have potentially been one of the greatest of all time, the talent and physical skill set was there. Too bad we will never know.The Bengals are still living with the Bo Curse.

 

[ffldrew]

In this short clip you will see Bo get the ball at the 25 at the 5 second mark and he's in the endzone some 75 yards later at the 14 second mark. Not scientific mind you but pretty good.

 

[two_dollars]

For the younger FBGs, behold the greatness:

makes me want to walk on to a nfl team..

 

[abricru]

hersh. walker

Yeah, I think Larry Munson would beg to disagree about Herschel not running over people, lol. Check it out at :48

 

[doubletrouble]

Bo knows speed...my favorite player ever.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

So are people purposely not talking about 1:20 in the OP youtube clip where #25 on the Bengals catches Bo Jackson from behind or did they just not notice?

 

[Choke]

He was great, too bad we never really saw what he could do over the course of a career. I agree he could have been one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game, he looked incredible on the field, but he simply didn't play very long. Zero thousand yard seasons.

You realize in his four seasons, he played 7, 10, 11 and 10 games right? Baseball got in the way.

I thought his overall lack of passion for football got in the way.

 

[pghrob]

He was great, too bad we never really saw what he could do over the course of a career. I agree he could have been one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game, he looked incredible on the field, but he simply didn't play very long. Zero thousand yard seasons.

You realize in his four seasons, he played 7, 10, 11 and 10 games right? Baseball got in the way.

Sure, I'm just saying he didn't have any numbers. I mean how can people call him the "best ever?" I watched him play - he may have become the best ever eventually, but he never got a chance to. Saying he's the "best ever" when he never had a truly great season seems odd. I think the right way to put it is "what could have been".

Has me thinking of the Kansas Comet.

 

[pghrob]

Imagine the headache of owning Bo in fantasy football and having to decide to start him or Marcus Allen each week.

 

[Moniker]

Of course it was, it was in 1986. The NFL didn't start using electronic timers until the 90s, and they weren't fully used at the combine until 1999. Does this mean that he wasn't fast as hell?

It means he wasn't faster than current fast NFL players. He wasn't faster than Deion. He was extremely fast for a big guy, no question, and he was an incredible athlete. But he didn't run 40 yards in 4.1 seconds.

Deion ran a 4.21 at the combine, just as Bo ran a 4.12. Both were hand timed as they were in the 80s. The times are verified. I don't see the problem with saying Bo ran a 4.12.Now, since both were hand timed - is it possible that Bo's time is a little fast and Deion's a little slow? Sure. Is it possible that both are correct? Sure. You just refuse to believe it.

 

[Chreesto]

Of course it was, it was in 1986. The NFL didn't start using electronic timers until the 90s, and they weren't fully used at the combine until 1999. Does this mean that he wasn't fast as hell?

It means he wasn't faster than current fast NFL players. He wasn't faster than Deion. He was extremely fast for a big guy, no question, and he was an incredible athlete. But he didn't run 40 yards in 4.1 seconds.

Deion ran a 4.21 at the combine, just as Bo ran a 4.12. Both were hand timed as they were in the 80s. The times are verified. I don't see the problem with saying Bo ran a 4.12.Now, since both were hand timed - is it possible that Bo's time is a little fast and Deion's a little slow? Sure. Is it possible that both are correct? Sure. You just refuse to believe it.

The point is that the methods of testing were not accurate enough to provide a reliable metric of comparison. With hand timing the margin of error is sufficient to invalidate the results. Human error makes an apples to apples comparison impossible. At least there has been some measure of electronic timing introduced since 2000. Ridiculous 40 times have become part of NFL mythology. They are, quite frankly, beneath the high standards of this forum.