Why Bo Jackson Is My Favorite Sports Person? Free Essay Example

My assignment was to write an essay about a famous athlete. I chose an athlete from the eighties, Bo Jackson. The reason I chose this athlete did not only do he have so many accomplishments over the years, but also because he is my dad’s favorite Raider player of all time. I also decided to choose him because of how many people he has inspired, he is a really good athletic role model. You can see what he has done over the last few years.

Even though some people may not agree, I believe he has been one of the best football players in history.

Bo Jackson attended McAdory Highschool in Alabama, where he was a multi-sport standout. His senior year in high school he rushed for 1175 yard while also hitting 20 home runs in 25 games for his baseball team. He was also a two-time state decathlon champion in track and field.

In 1982, Bo Jackson was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2nd round of a 1982 Major league baseball draft, but chose to attend Auburn University instead.

While at Auburn he rushed for 4303 career yards. He has a most valuable player award, during the 1983 Sugar Bowl victory over Michigan, and again in 1984 Liberty Bowl victory over Arkansas. In 1985, he won the Heisman trophy, Jackson finished his college career with 4575 all-purpose yards and 45 total touchdowns

Bo Jackson has had a very successful professional career. He stands out from other athletes because he is one of the few who have been able to play professionally in more than one sport.

He has been on teams such as the Kansas City Royals, for a Major League Baseball team, the White Sox, and he also played for the Los Angeles Raiders. He had a very good athletic ability in the early stages of his career, but he ended up getting a serious hip injury that needed surgery which, sadly, ended his career. He was very good at multiple sports such as track and field, baseball, and playing almost every snap on offense for a football team. When he played for the Royals and Raiders is when his career skyrocketed. He started his American League all-star career with 32 home runs and 105 runs batted in. The next year he rushed for 698 yards and five touchdowns over 10 games to earn a Pro Bowl. He was the first athlete to make all-star teams in two major North American sports. In 1991, was when Jackson had his serious injury, during a Raiders playoff game. Bo did not attend the 1986 NFL Scouting Combine, “I did not go because I was already picked to be the first person to go in the Draft, If you’re going to be the first person to go in the Draft, why should you go to a combine and do all of that? It wasn’t built up like it is now, now it’s a TV production, it’s a whole show.” said Jackson. In 1990, Bo was named to the Pro Bowl, even though he only played around 10 games he made such a huge impact on the athletic world. Jackson had played 38 games with 23 starts and rushed for 2,782 yards on 515 carries with 16 touchdowns, he had 2 of the top 5 longest runs in history.