Bo Jackson
Article on Bo Jackson “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” –Bo Jackson
There are stars, then superstars, and then there was Bo Jackson. The man who knew how to do it all, a man with such talent it was so unreal you had to see it to believe it. As a child he was Paul Bunyan like, legendary around all of Alabama. Stories about this man were so unbelievable that everyone told them, true or not. Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson was by far the greatest athlete in the 20th century and did things that were so inhumanly possible and in the blink of an eye was gone. Bo grew up in a small town just outside of Birmingham, Alabama in a town called Bessemer. The area was filled with very low income families, where he lived in a house with 10 siblings in a three bedroom house. He grew up with no dad in the house and took very good care of his mother. Making her a promise that he will go to college since no one else in his family did. While going to the local high school in Bessemer, McAdory, he was already known for his uncommon size and muscle tone. A three sport athlete in football, baseball and track; setting state records for the triple jump and then set another record for the high jump at 6’8. Although track was his first love, his amazing hand-eye coronation got him an opportunity to sign a contract to play with the New York Yankees straight out of high school. The Yankees offered him a quarter of a million dollar signing bonus and will continue to go up till he signed. Let me tell you how hard it is to get signed out of high school to play baseball but to have the attention of the New York Yankees, that’s incredible. With all this hype and the amazing opportunity he declined it keeping his promise to his mother. Bo’s mother is quoted saying “What do I need George Steinbrenner’s money for?” The Jackson’s took pride in themselves even though they were dirt poor. The next step for Bo was college. He wanted to stay in the state of Alabama to stay close
There are stars, then superstars, and then there was Bo Jackson. The man who knew how to do it all, a man with such talent it was so unreal you had to see it to believe it. As a child he was Paul Bunyan like, legendary around all of Alabama. Stories about this man were so unbelievable that everyone told them, true or not. Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson was by far the greatest athlete in the 20th century and did things that were so inhumanly possible and in the blink of an eye was gone. Bo grew up in a small town just outside of Birmingham, Alabama in a town called Bessemer. The area was filled with very low income families, where he lived in a house with 10 siblings in a three bedroom house. He grew up with no dad in the house and took very good care of his mother. Making her a promise that he will go to college since no one else in his family did. While going to the local high school in Bessemer, McAdory, he was already known for his uncommon size and muscle tone. A three sport athlete in football, baseball and track; setting state records for the triple jump and then set another record for the high jump at 6’8. Although track was his first love, his amazing hand-eye coronation got him an opportunity to sign a contract to play with the New York Yankees straight out of high school. The Yankees offered him a quarter of a million dollar signing bonus and will continue to go up till he signed. Let me tell you how hard it is to get signed out of high school to play baseball but to have the attention of the New York Yankees, that’s incredible. With all this hype and the amazing opportunity he declined it keeping his promise to his mother. Bo’s mother is quoted saying “What do I need George Steinbrenner’s money for?” The Jackson’s took pride in themselves even though they were dirt poor. The next step for Bo was college. He wanted to stay in the state of Alabama to stay close