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Bo Jackson Facts & Worksheets

Bo Jackson a multi-talented African-American athlete in baseball, football, and track considered as one of the greatest all-around athletes in history.

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Bo Jackson opted to play both professional baseball and football at the same time, becoming the most well-known professional athlete to do so while not being the first to do so. America as a whole was familiar with Bo Jackson by the late 1980s. Due to a tremendously successful national advertising campaign with Nike, the “Bo Knows…” series, which made his face and name popular in living rooms throughout the country, they only knew him by his first name. “Bo” Jackson’s remarkable speed and strength on the football field and baseball diamond won him honors, admiration, and respect.

See the fact file below for more information on Bo Jackson or alternatively, you can download our 29-page Bo Jackson worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life

  • Vincent Edward Jackson was born in the Alabama steel town of Bessemer on November 30, 1962. He was the eighth of Florence Jackson Bond’s ten children, and his name comes from her favorite television character Dr. Ben Casey, played by Vince Edwards. His relatives described Jackson, a young rebel, as being “as wild as a boar hog,” and over time he became known as “Bo.”
  • As Jackson approached puberty and developed a reputation as a troublemaker, the name Vincent rapidly vanished. He appeared unable to stay out of mischief, smashing windows, stealing bicycles, and abusing the local youngsters. “I even hired kids to beat up other kids for me because I didn’t have time to beat them all up myself,” Jackson stated in his autobiography Bo Knows Bo (co-written with columnist Dick Schaap).
  • When he was caught throwing rocks at a Baptist minister’s hogs when he was thirteen, Jackson’s time as a hoodlum ended. The preacher had instructed the boys to make amends for killing many animals. Jackson had to work odd jobs in order to cover his share of the $3,000 loss. Jackson’s mother, who was unsure what to do, was convinced by the preacher to enroll him in a reform school. Jackson understood that he had to alter his behavior or risk expulsion. He decided to put all of his effort into athletics.
  • Jackson found that he needed to remain active to stay out of trouble. He showed a natural knack for baseball, but his extraordinary work ethic enabled him to outperform his contemporaries. He had already advanced to the Bessemer Industrial League at thirteen, where he competed against adult men.

College & Adult Life

  • Jackson was invited to join the track team of the adjacent hamlet by Dick Atchinson before starting high school. In addition to coaching Jackson in football and track at McArdory High School, Atchinson subsequently took on the role of his guidance counselor. Here was the father figure Jackson had been missing as a child. Jackson acknowledges Atchinson as the one who helped him become the exceptional athlete that he was in his book. Without him, he claims, “I couldn’t have been the human being I am.”
  • Jackson wasn’t exactly a perfect student, but he excelled in many sports. Jackson earned two state decathlon titles at McCalla, Alabama’s McAdory High School. He gained 1,173 yards on 108 attempts as a senior (10.9 average) and scored 17 touchdowns. His 20 home runs in just 25 games of baseball equaled the U.S. high school record.
  • The New York Yankees were drawn to his skill and chose him in the second round of the June 1982 draft. Jackson, however, declined their $250,000 offer in favor of an Auburn football scholarship.
  • Jackson rushed for 4,303 yards and 43 touchdowns throughout his collegiate career and ran for three figures 21 times. Jackson considered winning the Heisman Trophy, which he received in 1985 to cap off a 1,786-yard season and four 200-yard running games, “my greatest accolade.
  • In 1987, he tied the knot with Linda Jackson, a clinical psychologist. The couple had three children, namely Garrett, Nicholas, and Morgan.

Professional Sports Career

  • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Jackson first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft. But Jackson turned down their five-year, $7.6 million deal, which would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid rookie. “My first love is baseball,” he explained, “and it has always been a goal of mine to play in the major leagues.”
  • Jackson, a centerfielder for Auburn, who as a junior hit 401 with 17 home runs and 43 RBI in 42 games, decided to hold out on signing his first professional sports contract until the Royals selected him in the fourth round of the 1986 amateur baseball draft. On September 2, 1986, Jackson made his major league debut after playing just 53 games in the minors. In his first at-bat against Steve Carlton, he hit an infield single.
  • He would soon start moonlighting, so it wouldn’t be long. He was re-entered in the 1987 draft when he declined to sign with the Buccaneers, and the Raiders selected Jackson in the seventh round (No. 183 overall). Al Davis, the owner of the Raiders, supported Jackson’s baseball career, unlike the Bucs. Jackson agreed to a four-year deal after Davis was offered full-time pay to seek a part-time football job following each baseball season.
  • Jackson had attained baseball’s all-star status by 1989. After crushing the opening pitch for the American League from Rick Reuschel, he was named the All-Star Game MVP.
  • After accumulating 698 yards in 10 games with the Raiders, he was chosen for the Pro Bowl in 1990, although he was never really in the game. This is because on January 13, 1991, when playing for the Raiders against the Cincinnati Bengals in a playoff game, he was tackled and suffered a hip injury. Nobody realized it at the time, but the ensuing avascular necrosis disease would obliterate the bone and cartilage surrounding his left hip joint.
  • On January 13, 1991, in a playoff matchup at the Los Angeles Coliseum versus the Cincinnati Bengals, at the conclusion of a 34-yard run in the third quarter, Bo was tackled from behind by linebacker Kevin Walker.
  • Jackson was released by the Royals during spring training when his hip did not improve with therapy. When Jackson was signed by the White Sox two weeks later, he only participated in 23 games. His left hip had gotten so bad by 1992 that surgeons had to put an artificial one in its place.
  • Experts in medicine and athletics said Jackson wouldn’t be seen or heard from again. There were no Bo Jackson authorities present. Jackson returned to shape in the months following the procedure while using a prosthetic hip. Not just to walk but also to run and compete.
  • Jackson’s return to the White Sox was even more stunning than his return to baseball. It was frequently done with panache. Jackson hit a pinch-hit home run against the Yankees’ Neal Heaton in his debut game in 1993. Despite hitting 16 home runs that season, he had a.232 batting average and was dismissed by the White Sox. In 201 at-bats with the Angels in 1994, Jackson batted.279 with 13 home runs.
  • Jackson’s career came to an all-too-quiet conclusion when the season was halted in August of that year due to a players’ strike. His Nike “Bo Knows” campaign, which had previously been a big voice in the advertising business, came to an end soon after. Jackson departed baseball before the start of the 1995 season.

Jackson: a Celebrity and a Businessman

  • Jackson returned to Auburn and graduated in December 1995 with a bachelor of science degree in family and child development, fulfilling his promise to his mother before she died of cancer in April 1992.
  • He owned a motorcycle store outside Chicago and collaborated on an Alabama restaurant with Charles Barkley. He is the president of HealthSouth Corporation’s Sports Medicine Council, a non-profit youth outreach program.
  • Bo Jackson has undertaken several investing initiatives. In Lockport, Illinois, they worked with John Cangelosi to construct the “Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex” in 2007. This was a multi-sports dome facility created to aid the nation’s athletes. Jackson also invested in “N’Genuity,” a food firm, and “The Burr Ridge Bank and Trust,” a Chicago suburb bank owned by a consortium of investors.
  • Jackson has also had a strong presence in the advertising sector. On January 22, 2014, Jackson returned to the Chicago White Sox as an ambassador for the organization after appearing in advertisements for “Nike” during their “BOOM campaign.”

Achievements & Legacy

  • Bo Jackson is the Greatest Athlete of All Time, which was determined by contrasting several sports science parameters. Even without the science, the popular vote put him far ahead; after 27,397 votes, Jackson had 79.5% of the vote, a significant lead.
  • Celebrity Net Worth estimates Bo Jackson’s net worth at $25 million. Bo apparently earned roughly $6.8 million in MLB and $6.1 million in the NFL.
  • Bo Jackson won the “Heisman Trophy” in 1985 while still a student at Auburn University. He won the “Bert Bell Trophy” and the NFL’s “Rookie of the Year Award” in 1987, and he was selected an “American League All-Star” and the “All-Star Games MVP” two years later.
  • In 1990, Jackson won the “Jim Thorpe Legacy Award” from Easter Seals and was named one of People Magazine’s “25 Most Intriguing People.” People Magazine gave Jackson the “Power to Overcome Award” two years later.
  • Bo Jackson was honored in 1996 with inductions into the Alabama Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1993, he was voted the “Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year.”
  • ESPN Sports Science dubbed Jackson “The Greatest Athlete of All Time” in 2013.
  • He made an appearance on the Spike TV Sports reality program when he easily won a competition against amateur athletes.
  • In 2012, Bo Jackson participated in a 300-mile charity bike ride. As a result, he launched the “Bo Bikes Bama” initiative to help the storm victims who had caused significant damage in Alabama. It currently takes place every year.
  • Sadly, he didn’t play for a long enough period of time to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is not regarded as being immortal enough to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bo Jackson Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Bo Jackson across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Bo Jackson worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Bo Jackson, who opted to play both professional baseball and football at the same time, becoming the most well-known professional athlete to do so while not being the first to do so. America as a whole was familiar with Bo Jackson by the late 1980s.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

  • Bo Jackson Facts
  • Jackson Personal Life
  • Bo as a Kid
  • Bo on Auburn University
  • Sports Career Timeline
  • Notable Awards Timeline
  • A Celebrity and Life After Sports
  • Words Search
  • What’s the Difference
  • Bo Famous Quotes

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Bo Jackson not in the Hall of Fame?

Sadly, he didn’t play for a long enough period of time to qualify for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He is not regarded as being immortal enough to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Is Bo Jackson the greatest athlete of all time?

Bo Jackson is the Greatest Athlete of All Time, which was determined by contrasting several sports science parameters. Even without the science, the popular vote put him far ahead; after 27,397 votes, Jackson had 79.5% of the vote, a significant lead.

Why was Bo Jackson’s career so short?

After accumulating 698 yards in 10 games with the Raiders, he was chosen for the Pro Bowl in 1990, although he was never really in the game. This is because on January 13, 1991, when playing for the Raiders against the Cincinnati Bengals in a playoff game, he was tackled and suffered a hip injury. Nobody realized it at the time, but the ensuing avascular necrosis disease would obliterate the bone and cartilage surrounding his left hip joint.

Who hit Bo Jackson’s career-ending?

On January 13, 1991, in a playoff matchup at the Los Angeles Coliseum versus the Cincinnati Bengals, at the conclusion of a 34-yard run in the third quarter, Bo was tackled from behind by linebacker Kevin Walker.

What is Bo worth?

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Bo Jackson’s net worth at $25 million. Bo apparently earned roughly $6.8 million in MLB and $6.1 million in the NFL.

 

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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