The Bo Jackson overhype is ridiculous

[megatechpc]

Yeah, I saw Terrell Davis first-hand since 1998 was one of the most significant seasons of football I ever watched (my Falcons made their first SB that year) and I was constantly comparing him to Jamal Anderson at the time.  Both of those guys were just unstoppable in 1998, but of course TD was unstoppable for like 5-6 years and Anderson only had that one great season.  I'll always remember the 1997 SB too as the game where Davis couldn't even see due to migraines but Shanahan put him out there anyway just as a decoy.  Having worked his way up from ST scrub to arguably the greatest 5-year RB in the NFL, its hard to deny Davis' impact and to not root for the guy (except in that SB where Eugene Robinson ensured a continuation of the Falcons legacy of ineptitude).

[Totty]

Yeah he sucked.  ?

[43M]

The "expert' strikes again.

[TomRalph]

5 hours ago, showtime said:

Do you have any idea how incredibly impressive it is to be a professional athlete in two different sports?  That's downright insane.  It's damn near impossible to be a pro at any sport, let alone two.  That's why when you hear people talk about the greatest athletes of the modern era, you often hear the names of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.  Look at a guy like Michael Jordan, who is the consensus greatest basketball player to ever live.  He left the sport during the prime of his career to play baseball and he wasn't very good at it.  Jordan couldn't even dream of being a pro baseball player.  I'm just using Jordan as an example of someone who was at the absolute apex of their sport and tried to play a totally different sport and couldn't do it.

What do you make of Decathletes? 

[raidersedge]

Keep in mind he was splitting carries with Marcus freaking Allen. Bo could have easily averaged more than 100 yards a game.

 

 

 

 

[Thelonebillsfan]

I mean yeah of course he was a better baseball player he was an all-star caliber player in baseball and would have been for a decade if he didn't blow up his hip. Bo Jackson the baseball player was a ridiculous, stupidly good baseball player. He was just a really good football player.

[Malik]

Honestly have no idea why people think he's better than Herschel Walker.

[THE DUKE]

Bo averaged 5.4 yards per carry for his career

Barry Sanders averaged 5.0, Walter Payton 4.4, Gale Sayers 5.0, Jim Brown 5.2, Emmitt Smith 4.2, Adrian Peterson 4.8

Bo didn't have the longevity, but with the opportunity he had, he absolutely was up there with the best

 

[NFLExpert49]

7 hours ago, Nabbs4u said:

I'm going to assume with a rant like that you are actually old enough to of watched him "Live" and not through video/ highlights/ YouTube? If not that too explains alot.

Couple things though. There are reasons we don't see Two Sport (Major) Athletes but a handful of time in a generation, they are few and far between. You knock Jackson for supposedly not being great at either sport but with his time Split between MLB and the NFL, how could you really? Could you imagine if he only played one? Full time?

His size , speed and power are what made him dangerous. What made him one of the more feared RB to face defendively of his era. Despite having to split carries with Allen and never being the Bell Cow.  Despite only really committing 1/2 of what it takes to truly be great at either sport but good enough to be a All Star in both. Sorry but that speaks volumes about the player he not only was but could if been to me!!

His injury did derail his career. You can't deny that. Did prevent the rest of us from seeing what "could" of occurred had he played for another 4-6 years. Much in the same way injury derailed TD from possibly being considered the GOAT. Injury does that.

 

It's exactly the opposite. It's because I have actually seen him play in full games that I know things like the fact that he couldn't catch a cold. He had the cleanest drops you will ever see. He was also extremely stiff; a pure straight line guy. He was awesome turning the corner, but you can't live off that. Sure, if you gave him a big crease inside, the second/third level had better watch out for the power/speed combination, but just about everyone will look really good in those situations. He wasn't the kind of guy who would help out the blocking with creativity or churn out hard fought yards. 

The people who think he was going to be some kind of historic great are the ones who only saw highlight clips, played Tecmo Bowl, and never checked his age. 

Again, everyone in this thread has apparently missed the part where I mentioned he was 28 at the time of his hip injury. This was in the playoffs in 1991. The guy was going to turn 29 the following season with 2700 career rushing yards, and people think that injury stopped him from going down as one of the greatest RBs in NFL history. 

Historically, 30 is "the wall" for RBs. A few guys went over it a little, but back in 1991, the odds of him playing to, say, 35, were basically zero. And an injury was coming sooner or later with that kind of running style. 

[NFLExpert49]

2 hours ago, raidersedge said:

Keep in mind he was splitting carries with Marcus freaking Allen. Bo could have easily averaged more than 100 yards a game.

 

 

 

 

Marcus Allen was shot by the time Bo got there. He just hung around forever as a goal line specialist. 

[TENINCH]

Can an average athlete do this? Hell No!!

 

 

[LaserFocus]

1 hour ago, Malik said:

Honestly have no idea why people think he's better than Herschel Walker.

Herschel Walker had a disappointing NFL career. Played a long time, but Tony Dorsett was easily the better pure RB.

[lancerman]

The truth is that the myth of Jackson is bigger than what he actually was. People extrapolate on what they saw when even at the time he couldn’t sustain it. 

Great athlete but the legend is greater than the truth 

[Jlowe22]

He was a great athlete that perhaps could have been one of the greatest RBs of all time had he focused on football 100%.  I've also heard he didn't lift weights, which is amazing what he accomplished without doing so, but proper weight training could have only helped him.

I see Bo as someone with the highest potential that for various reasons feel short of that potential, while still landing higher than most other people, and pro athletes, could even dream of.

[Malik]

8 hours ago, LaserFocus said:

Herschel Walker had a disappointing NFL career. Played a long time, but Tony Dorsett was easily the better pure RB.

I mean sure ya. He was just one of Bo's contemporaries who was also one of the greatest college players ever and was a great all-around athlete. Whose to say that even if healthy his career doesn't turn out exactly like Walker's?