Should Bo Jackson be in the MLB or NFL HOF?

[Stillriledup]

Anyone thinks he belongs?

[johnhannibalsmith]

If it were based on raw ability rather than actual accomplishments, then definitely, either, or, both.

I'm not a football fan so I don't really know how his brief career would stack up with other inductees, but as far as Cooperstown, he's probably too light on actual credentials.

But I'd like to see him there before a whole lot of people that probably do have the credentials. The man was just an amazing athlete.

[cj]

College football HOF, sure (he is already I would imagine). The others, no way.

[wiffleball whizz]

College football HOF, sure (he is already I would imagine). The others, no way.

That home run in the all star game doesn't put him that category or the homerun in kc way up on the top of the grass in batting practice? :lol: :lol: :lol:

There is just something about bo that makes him mythical and I
Thought this before the 30 for 30 film...

Side note: that play against bama in the iron bowl I have no clue how he scored when he went over the top!!!! Look like he got zero yards lolololol

I gotta agree with cj that bo doesn't have the complete body of work to get in...nfl I don't know all the criteria but baseball not even close....if he had a 15 year career very possible....

Again don't gO by me he was before my time

[Stillriledup]

That home run in the all star game doesn't put him that category or the homerun in kc way up on the top of the grass in batting practice? :lol: :lol: :lol:

There is just something about bo that makes him mythical and I
Thought this before the 30 for 30 film...

Side note: that play against bama in the iron bowl I have no clue how he scored when he went over the top!!!! Look like he got zero yards lolololol

I gotta agree with cj that bo doesn't have the complete body of work to get in...nfl I don't know all the criteria but baseball not even close....if he had a 15 year career very possible....

Again don't gO by me he was before my time

But, the "complete body of work" is just a longevity question and has nothing to do with actual greatness. The HOF in all sports has some great 'compilers" who were just very good players who were able to hang around for 20 seasons and compile stats.

The great debate is always why do we need to see greatness for 10 or 15
years, do we not "recognize" greatness in 2 or 3 seasons?

I know that people will say that they don't want to elect a guy who is a "flash in the pan" type player who has a couple good seasons and then fades away.......Jackson was a sure fire first ballot HOFer in the NFL if he didnt suffer a flukey career ending injury.

[Stillriledup]

If it were based on raw ability rather than actual accomplishments, then definitely, either, or, both.

I'm not a football fan so I don't really know how his brief career would stack up with other inductees, but as far as Cooperstown, he's probably too light on actual credentials.

But I'd like to see him there before a whole lot of people that probably do have the credentials. The man was just an amazing athlete.

He was a rare jewel, a player much before his time, when you ask hard core sports fans who is the best athlete they ever saw, Bo is in everyone's top 5 list and he's in most people's top 1 or 2. Its a shame that we need to see such "longevity" on certain players, with Bo, if you watched him play sports, you kinda saw all you needed to see, he was one of the rare ones that you didnt really need to see 15 or 20 years of 'sustained excellence" you knew right away, almost in an instant, that you were seeing something that you had never seen before.

[Marshall Bennett]

His accomplishments as a ruuning back in the NFL were average at best and far below average in MLB. He was a great college footbal player and it ended there.
Kind of surprised that you would even post the question with regards to the Hall.

[TheEdge07]

He wasnt a great baseball player.
Bo didnt play football long enough to be a HOF type player.

If your asking the question whether a player in any sport should be in the HOF chances are he isnt a HOF player.

[tucker6]

Bo Jackson NFL career


4 season
38 games played
23 games started
2,782 rushing yards
352 receiving yards
18 TD's total

Bo never played in more than 10 games in a season and never started more than 9 times.

Last year alone, Adrian Peterson had 2,097 yards rushing and 217 yards receiving with 12 TD's total in only 16 games AFTER coming back from injury. That is essentially Bo Jackson's career in one year. To top it off, Bo had 11 fumbles in his career stats, and Adrian only had 3 all of last year when he set those numbers.

Bo was one of the best marketed NFL players of all time, but when you look under the hood, he didn't perform well enough over time in anything to deserve any honors. He was a great athlete that spread himself so thin he wore out.

[Valuist]

But, the "complete body of work" is just a longevity question and has nothing to do with actual greatness. The HOF in all sports has some great 'compilers" who were just very good players who were able to hang around for 20 seasons and compile stats.

The great debate is always why do we need to see greatness for 10 or 15
years, do we not "recognize" greatness in 2 or 3 seasons?

I know that people will say that they don't want to elect a guy who is a "flash in the pan" type player who has a couple good seasons and then fades away.......Jackson was a sure fire first ballot HOFer in the NFL if he didnt suffer a flukey career ending injury.

The "complete body of work" is a part of what determines greatness. We've seen guys put together one great season but weren't able to duplicate it. The Hall of Fame is about accomplishment; not potential.

[johnhannibalsmith]

He was a rare jewel, a player much before his time, when you ask hard core sports fans who is the best athlete they ever saw, Bo is in everyone's top 5 list and he's in most people's top 1 or 2. Its a shame that we need to see such "longevity" on certain players, with Bo, if you watched him play sports, you kinda saw all you needed to see, he was one of the rare ones that you didnt really need to see 15 or 20 years of 'sustained excellence" you knew right away, almost in an instant, that you were seeing something that you had never seen before.

Yeah, but longevity isn't even really a factor, at least in terms of baseball. He just never actually did what was expected of him. He was supposed to be a 30-30 guy that would hit .300 or better every year - the kind of guy that could hit anywhere in the top four spots and suit that role - and it just never materialized on a nightly basis. I'm kinda talking out my ass because this is just how I remember it and am too lazy/groggy to go hunting data, but long-term he projected out longevity-wise like a Dwight Evans (if you took away Bo's SB but replaced them with way more K's and fewer BBs) or somebody like that - a steady eddie that was a contributor in a variety of scenarios, but any stardom was built on individual feats that were visually impressive (the catches, throws, etc.).

If there was a hall of fame for lifetime achievements, it would be one thing. But, I just don't think Jackson compares favorably with a lot of major league ball players that will never be inducted. He had all the tools, but was never really ever to consistently utilize them to be the sort of player that he might have been and would have needed to have been to be sure thing hall of famer.

[ElKabong]

I saw Bo Jackson play vs TEXAS in Austin in 1984 (the Todd Dodge game). Jerry Gray ran Bo down from behind, Bo suffered a separated shoulder on that tackle by Gray .

I laughed when I watched the 30 for 30. The superhuman nonsense was piled high. Jerry Gray never ran a 4.1, yet ran him down like a cat on a rat.

Jackson was a very good RB. Very talented. But the legend is greater than the player ever was.

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/17/sports/double-loss-for-auburn-jackson-is-out.html

[wiffleball whizz]

Yes I think the super human status people make out to be is a little over the top....although I was too young to really notice

Question to the board......who was the more valuable 2 sport athlete deion sanders or bo jackson? Though I reminder sanders as a football player I was very young when he was playing baseball

[PhantomOnTour]

Yes I think the super human status people make out to be is a little over the top....although I was too young to really notice

Question to the board......who was the more valuable 2 sport athlete deion sanders or bo jackson? Though I reminder sanders as a football player I was very young when he was playing baseball
Prime Time by a mile in my opinion

[tucker6]

Yes I think the super human status people make out to be is a little over the top....although I was too young to really notice

Question to the board......who was the more valuable 2 sport athlete deion sanders or bo jackson? Though I reminder sanders as a football player I was very young when he was playing baseball
There has never been a modern two sport athlete that was GREAT at both sports. MJ was great at basketball and average at baseball. Bo was good at football and average at baseball. Deion was great at football and average at baseball.

So to answer your specific question, Deion was the more valuable 2 sport athlete and is the prototypical ball hawk you see in the NFL today. In other words, Deion's type of play lives on in the current NFL because of him. Bo, not so much. It really isn't that close, and I'm not a Bo hater. He barely played the equivalent of two full seasons.

[TJDave]

I laughed when I watched the 30 for 30. The superhuman nonsense was piled high. Jerry Gray never ran a 4.1, yet ran him down like a cat on a rat.

What's your take on the Dupree segment?

[Robert Fischer]

Jackson was a great running back.

with health, focus and the right team, he could have put up HOF numbers.

He was a human-highlight reel in both sports.

[TheEdge07]

Terrel Davis before Bo

[Valuist]

There has never been a modern two sport athlete that was GREAT at both sports. MJ was great at basketball and average at baseball. Bo was good at football and average at baseball. Deion was great at football and average at baseball.

So to answer your specific question, Deion was the more valuable 2 sport athlete and is the prototypical ball hawk you see in the NFL today. In other words, Deion's type of play lives on in the current NFL because of him. Bo, not so much. It really isn't that close, and I'm not a Bo hater. He barely played the equivalent of two full seasons.

MJ was not even close to average in baseball. He hit about .205 at the Double A level. He stole a few bases but his bat was too slow.

[tucker6]

MJ was not even close to average in baseball. He hit about .205 at the Double A level. He stole a few bases but his bat was too slow.
charity starts at home.

[ElKabong]

What's your take on the Dupree segment?

Not surprised at how it turned out for him. He wasn't the sharpest kid on the block, in his environment he was easy pickings for a vulture. The fact he got fleeced by a "friend" didn't surprise

Funny, I was @ the Cotton Bowl in that '83 game when Richard Peavy laid Dupree's ass out. I was across the field, in the corner of the end zone. That was a vicious hit but it looked to me that Peavy got the worst of it at first....then Dupree didn't get up for a bit, looked shaky as hell

That might have been the loudest I yelled at any game. Seeing him laid out, it was like a feeding frenzy in the stands (dupree wasn't popular w/ UT as you know)

That was also the game I decided college athletics was over-hyped & taken too seriously....when we arrived at the Fair, the 0u busses rolled up....Switzer was looking out the front of the lead bus, couldn't see far ahead, told his players (with a waive) to get out of the bus and walk to the Cotton Bowl - which was maybe 200 yards up the drag

When the players got off the bus half of the people (0u) applauded and screamed boomer sooner, the (cough) better half booed in fun....What struck me was, these were kids. I mean, kids. 19-20 yo kids that shouldn't be thrown into this kind of a pressure cooker (as it was then)

Of course, when we kicked 0u's ass, it was cause for celebration you know ;)

seriously, after that it became entertainment & in many ways i feel for the kids...they're in a meat grinder

[wiffleball whizz]

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GPxkpjCvWI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


The Gretzky part is better then any Super Bowl commercial in my opinion....not sure why but that makes me laugh harder then any commercial I've ever seen

[Stillriledup]

Watching 30 for 30, its about Bo.

Hall of famer in TWO sports? I wouldn't have a problem if he was elected to either, he's a once in a lifetime player, the biggest freak of all athletic freaks, put him in i say!

[PhantomOnTour]

It's about what you did.
It's not about what we thought you would have done
It's not about your brilliance over a few seasons, or about making the occasional highlight reel play.

Durability is an overlooked characteristic in an athlete...think Brett Favre.

[Stillriledup]

It's about what you did.
It's not about what we thought you would have done
It's not about your brilliance over a few seasons, or about making the occasional highlight reel play.

Durability is an overlooked characteristic in an athlete...think Brett Favre.

Hall of fame aside, Bo was on a planet all by himself. Maybe Lawrence Taylor was in that same mold, but for the most part, Bo had no peers, and there hasn't really been another Bo in the last few decades. Once in a lifetime player and i think that if you are going to break the "rules" of what it normally takes to get into Halls of Fame, you break it for this guy.

[jballscalls]

Bo is like that horse who is freaky good and posted a couple 110 beyer numbers but kept getting hurt and was sent out to stud as a mid-season 3 year old.

Ok that's a bad analogy but you know what i mean.

No HOF......he's in the HOF for bad asses though

[Stillriledup]

Bo is like that horse who is freaky good and posted a couple 110 beyer numbers but kept getting hurt and was sent out to stud as a mid-season 3 year old.

Ok that's a bad analogy but you know what i mean.

No HOF......he's in the HOF for bad asses though

I think the key is to not confuse flahes in the pan from true greatness. While many players have had brilliant and short careers, there's only one Bo Jackson and if the HOF voters aren't able to differentiate between flashes and greatness, maybe they ought to just make sure a player had a long career filled with great moments.

Its too bad, i think he belongs.

[MutuelClerk]

Raider fan, love Bo. I think jballs nailed it. The analogy was spot on. Amazing athlete. I really wish he stayed healthy. Looking back we were lucky to witness the greatness of BO and Deion.

[RaceBookJoe]

I really liked watching Bo Jackson play football, ran like a bull. Having said that, I think his football "legend", if that's what you want to call it got a massive boost from the NES Tecmo Super Bowl video game ( somewhere around 1993 maybe? ). He was almost impossible to tackle one on one...lots of time you would wrap him up and he would throw you off and run for 80yds. Only 2 ways to stop him in that game was to call the correct matching defense or have your guy that you controlled on defense have a perfectly timed and angled dive at his legs.

[tucker6]

But, the "complete body of work" is just a longevity question and has nothing to do with actual greatness. The HOF in all sports has some great 'compilers" who were just very good players who were able to hang around for 20 seasons and compile stats.

The great debate is always why do we need to see greatness for 10 or 15
years, do we not "recognize" greatness in 2 or 3 seasons?

I know that people will say that they don't want to elect a guy who is a "flash in the pan" type player who has a couple good seasons and then fades away.......Jackson was a sure fire first ballot HOFer in the NFL if he didnt suffer a flukey career ending injury.
I know this was 18 months ago, but this post is LOL on the bolded. In four seasons, the sure fire HOF'er amassed less than 2,800 yards rushing TOTAL with 16 TD's. A better argument would have been to say that if he had committed to football full time like every other HOF'er, AND been able to do it for ten plus years, he'd probably be a HOF'er. Note the numerous caveats in my statement.

On your other thought, showing me 2-3 years of greatness doesn't tell me you were great. Maybe Hoyer from Philly should get in based on his 2013 performance? It was great, right?

[tucker6]

Hall of fame aside, Bo was on a planet all by himself. Maybe Lawrence Taylor was in that same mold, but for the most part, Bo had no peers, and there hasn't really been another Bo in the last few decades. Once in a lifetime player and i think that if you are going to break the "rules" of what it normally takes to get into Halls of Fame, you break it for this guy.
LOL. How about Barry Sanders, who did everything Bo did on the football field, but did it for 16 weeks a year and for ten seasons. I know you have a man crush on Bo, but stop with the hyperbole. He was great when he played, with strong emphasis on "when he played".

[Stillriledup]

LOL. How about Barry Sanders, who did everything Bo did on the football field, but did it for 16 weeks a year and for ten seasons. I know you have a man crush on Bo, but stop with the hyperbole. He was great when he played, with strong emphasis on "when he played".

Im sure Bo would appreciate being compared and mentioned in the same sentence as Barry Sanders, who was probably the greatest RB in history.

[tucker6]

Im sure Bo would appreciate being compared and mentioned in the same sentence as Barry Sanders, who was probably the greatest RB in history.
I didn't compare him favorably to Barry Sanders. He has about 17% as many yards and TDs as Barry. I'll pass on Bo.

[Stillriledup]

I didn't compare him favorably to Barry Sanders. He has about 17% as many yards and TDs as Barry. I'll pass on Bo.

Yes, that usually happens when you play a lot more games.

Many people hold injuries and longevity against players, and usually i do too, but this is a rare instance, this is a one of a kind superstar that gets the benefit of the doubt for me. There's only one Bo Jackson.

[sammy the sage]

Bo...just say no...

[MutuelClerk]

Barry Sanders was great to watch. When his team was inside the 10 yard line he was often taken out of the game by the two head coaches he played for. He seemed like a guy who made everyone miss and bust a huge run, or get nothing. He didn't block well, catch well, but man he was tough to tackle. Didn't he break a guys knee just faking him out? I don't think he was the RB ever, but he was probably the best one to watch.

[PhantomOnTour]

Barry Sanders was great to watch. When his team was inside the 10 yard line he was often taken out of the game by the two head coaches he played for. He seemed like a guy who made everyone miss and bust a huge run, or get nothing. He didn't block well, catch well, but man he was tough to tackle. Didn't he break a guys knee just faking him out? I don't think he was the RB ever, but he was probably the best one to watch.
He threw a move on Rod Woodson, who tried to mirror it & make the tackle, and tore up his knee.

[kingfin66]

Bo did not have a single 1,000 yard rushing season. It is true that there are NFL HOF running backs with marginal stats (see Gale Sayers), but even they did more than Bo. I don't think that anybody other than SRU thinks he is deserving of the HOF.

Barry Sanders was indeed an exciting RB. My choice for greatest of all time is Walter Payton. Not only does he have the stats, but he did it on some horrible teams.

[Stillriledup]

If its the Hall of FAME, Bo gets in, he's pretty famous. If its the hall of great players, Bo gets in, he's in the top echelon of all time greats. If its the hall of longevity, Bo doesn't get in.

What's up?

[rastajenk]

So, you want to create a wing in the Hall for the Famous? Does Tim Tebow get in? He's pretty famous.

[tucker6]

So, you want to create a wing in the Hall for the Famous? Does Tim Tebow get in? He's pretty famous.
Yes, Tim Tebow will be in the inaugural class along with Bo, Johnny Football, and Ryan Leaf, who is obviously the most famous bust of all time.

Let's make a list of those not good enough to get into the real Hall, and submit to Roger Goodell for his personal review. :rolleyes:

[Stillriledup]

So, you want to create a wing in the Hall for the Famous? Does Tim Tebow get in? He's pretty famous.

You could if you want. But we all know that the Hall of fame isn't really the hall of fame or else Tebow would be first ballot.

So, if its NOT the Hall of fame, what is it?

The Hall of what?