Bo Jackson - Updated Oct 2024

Updated On June 3, 2024
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Bo Jackson

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson is a late American baseball and football player. Bo Jackson is the single professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football and one of the few to do so in two major sports. Similarly, Bo Jackson’s elite talent in multiple sports has given him a reputation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Early Life and Childhood

Vincent Edward Jackson was born on November 30, 1962, and raised in Bessemer, Alabama. His mother is Florence Jackson Bond and his father is A.D. Adams. The eighth of ten children, Bo Jackson, and his siblings were largely supported by his mother. His family named him a “wild boar hog”, as he would constantly get into trouble.

He attended school in McCalla, where he rushed for 1,175 yards as a running back as a high school senior. Likewise, Jackson scored twenty home runs in 25 games for McAdory’s baseball team during his senior season.

He remained a two-time state champion in the decathlon. Both times that he was the decathlon state champion, he built up such a commanding points lead before the 1500 meters that he never competed in that event.

Bo Jackson – Net Worth 2023

Jackson had earned a huge amount of money in his entire career and had a net worth estimated at $16 million. He reportedly earns around $400k to $600k annually.

Career and Professional Life

Bo Jackson was selected with the first overall pick of the ‘1986 NFL Draft’ by the ‘Tampa Bay Buccaneers’, but opted to play baseball for the ‘Kansas City Royals’. He further played football with the ‘Los Angeles Raiders beginning in 1987. 1990 was by far the best year of his career in terms of performance. In football, he averaged a whopping 11.3 in Receiving and 5.6 in Rushing. In baseball, he averaged 0.272.

His football career was caught short in 1991 when he suffered a debilitating hip injury while playing for the Raiders. Later in the same year, the ‘Chicago White Sox’ picked him up from the Kansas City Royals. In 1993, Jackson helped them capture the American League West Championship. Deciding to dedicate more time to his family, he retired from baseball following the ‘94 season.

Bo Jackson- player

Caption: Bo Jackson and Brooks Koepka in a picture! Source: Golf Digest

Further

In 1994, at the time of retirement, he averaged a whopping 0.250 in baseball, having played for ‘Kansas City Royals’, ‘Chicago White Sox’ and ‘California City Angels’. In football, he ended up with a fantastic average of 8.8 in Receiving and 5.4 in Rushing, playing for the ‘Los Angeles Raiders’. Through the 1990s, he dabbled in acting, having made several television guest appearances and appearing in small roles in a few films. Similarly, in 1995, he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Development at Auburn.
In 2007, Bo came together with John Cangelosi to form the ‘Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex, a multi-sports dome facility in Lockport, Illinois. He has been successful with other investments, including a food company, ‘N’Genuity’. He is also among a group of investors who own ‘The Burr Ridge Bank and Trust in the Chicago suburbs. After 20 years, of his famous ‘Bo Knows’ campaign, Jackson returned to do commercials for ‘Nike’ in the fall of 2010 for their ‘BOOM’ campaign. On January 22, 2014, he rejoined the ‘Chicago White Sox’ as an ambassador of the team.
Bo Jackson- player

Caption: Bo Jackson in NFL Source: Bleacher Report

Hip Injury

Jackson got an injury in his left hip which affected his athletic career.

In his last match, the aforementioned playoff victory over Cincinnati in January 1991, Jackson suffered a dislocated hip following a tackle. In the film You Don’t Know Bo, Jackson insisted that after he discovered the injury, he physically popped his hip back into the socket and in the process damaged the blood vessels supplying blood to the area. While doctors did not see proof that Jackson physically reset his hip, they did discover that there was a fracture of one of Jackson’s hip bones.

Awards and Achievements

At ‘Auburn University, Bo Jackson won the ‘Heisman Trophy’ in 1985. He earned the ‘Bert Bell Trophy’, the NFL’s ‘Rookie of the Year Award’ in 1987. In 1989, he won the ‘American League All-Star’ and ‘All-Star Game’s MVP’. In 1990, Jackson came to the list of the ‘25 Most Intriguing People’ by ‘People magazine. Moreover, in ‘92, he won the ‘Jim Thorpe Legacy Award’ and also the ‘Power to Overcome Award’ by Easter Seals.
During the late 80s and early 90s, he endorsed ‘Nike’ and was involved in a popular ad campaign ‘Bo Knows’. Named ‘the greatest athlete in video game history, his digital counterpart was nicknamed ‘Tecmo Bo’. In 1993, he was named the ‘Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year. Also in ’96, he was inducted into the ‘Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the ‘College Football Hall of Fame in ‘99. In March 2013, ESPN Sport Science identified Jackson as the ‘Greatest Athlete of All Time’.

Personal Life

Bo Jackson is a married man. Jackson’s wife is Linda who is a clinical psychologist as well as a rehabilitation counselor. They have three children- a son: Garrett, and Nicholas, and a daughter Morgan. Moreover, the family stays at their private home in Burr Ridge, Illinois, US.

Jackson did a 300-mile charity bike ride in 2012 and produced a campaign ‘Bo Bikes Bama’ to support victims of the tornado that badly damaged areas in Alabama. As of now, it has become an annual tradition.

Bo Jackson- player

Caption: Bo Jackson with his wife Linda Jackson! Source: Relationship airbrush shirts for couples

Bo Jackson – Social Media

Bo Jackson is available on his Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Similarly, he has more than 81.3K followers on Instagram, more than 210K followers on Facebook, and more than 171.3K followers on Twitter.

Trivia

  • Bo Jackson was named after Vince Edwards, the star of his mother’s then-favorite TV show.
  • He is labeled as stubborn and hard-headed, he struggled during his adolescence with behavioral problems.
  • He is popular for talking about himself in the third person.
  • Bo penned his autobiography ‘Bo Knows Bo’ in 1990, co-authored with Dick Schaap. The following book narrates his life from his childhood in Bessemer, Alabama to the peak of his athletic abilities in 1990.