"What If Bo Jackson Stayed Healthy?" - In this intriguing video, we explore an alternate sports universe where the electrifying athlete Bo Jackson never had ...
So the thing you have to remember about Bo Jackson through the eyes of those of us old enough to remember his career is there was no internet, no 24/7 sports cycle, less national TV access to games, etc. To us, Bo was a literal myth, a human highlight reel who did freakish things on the field. You are not likely to get an objective opinion on Bo from people that were there, it’s like asking a hardcore Christian what Jesus was like. I’m not surprised some people here think the Raiders would have won multiple SB’s if he’d stayed healthy.
The truth is more complicated - Bo liked football, but he LOVED baseball. He originally turned down NFL football altogether for baseball, the Tampa Bay Bucs offered him $7 million and he chose instead to sign with the Royals for $1 million.
His body was not going to survive many more seasons playing 162 MLB games then 8-10 NFL games then NFL playoffs. If he hadn’t hurt his hip, he’d probably have done another 1-2 seasons with the Raiders max then signed a long term baseball contract.
Other things to note - the Raiders were a poorly coached and GM’ed team at the time. They had what could have been the greatest 2 headed monster RB tandem ever but Al Davis had a personal vendetta with Marcus Allen and Bo was his way of getting back at Marcus
So the thing you have to remember about Bo Jackson through the eyes of those of us old enough to remember his career is there was no internet, no 24/7 sports cycle, less national TV access to games, etc. To us, Bo was a literal myth, a human highlight reel who did freakish things on the field. You are not likely to get an objective opinion on Bo from people that were there, it’s like asking a hardcore Christian what Jesus was like. I’m not surprised some people here think the Raiders would have won multiple SB’s if he’d stayed healthy.
The truth is more complicated - Bo liked football, but he LOVED baseball. He originally turned down NFL football altogether for baseball, the Tampa Bay Bucs offered him $7 million and he chose instead to sign with the Royals for $1 million.
His body was not going to survive many more seasons playing 162 MLB games then 8-10 NFL games then NFL playoffs. If he hadn’t hurt his hip, he’d probably have done another 1-2 seasons with the Raiders max then signed a long term baseball contract.
Other things to note - the Raiders were a poorly coached and GM’ed team at the time. They had what could have been the greatest 2 headed monster RB tandem ever but Al Davis had a personal vendetta with Marcus Allen and Bo was his way of getting back at Marcus