Remembering Bo Jackson's greatness

When I was a kid, there was nobody on the planet cooler than Bo Jackson. I idolized the man. I read his book, "Bo Knows Bo," had his Nike sneakers and even attempted to emulate the things he did on the football field and baseball diamond.

In a way, I feel that my generation was given the shaft when it came to Jackson, who suffered a severe hip injury during a 1991 playoff game that ended his football career (he was able to play a few more seasons of baseball before retiring in 1994).

Generations before us can talk about Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle and tell stories about how far they hit the ball. They can remember watching the matchups between Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell and recall just how great Johnny Unitas was.

Bo Jackson was supposed to be the player my generation told stories about. "Man, Bo had his run where he bowled over a linebacker at the goal line." Or "Bo once ran up a wall after tracking down a ball in center field."

Sure, our generation had Michael Jordan and Wayne Greztky, but there wasn't a man in professional sports who could excite viewers as much as Jackson. Whenever he touched - or hit - the ball, something great was bound to happen.

Taking a look at his career numbers in both sports, and he was no more than pedestrian. In four seasons with the Raiders, Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was slightly better on the diamond, hitting a career-high 32 home runs in 1989. He also struck out a league-worst 172 times. Jackson made one Pro Bowl and one All-Star Game (he was named the MVP). There may not have been more of a high-risk/high-reward kind of guy in pro sports.

Numbers aside, though, no player had more jaw-dropping moments in a shorter amount of time than Jackson, who has since entered several business ventures since retiring. Indeed, there wasn't a cooler man on the planet.