Bo Jackson
A physical phenomenon who achieved the impossible, excelling at the highest levels of two major sports and becoming a byword for raw athletic power.
Born 1962 (age 64)·American football and baseball player·Birthday: November 30·Baby Boomers
Biography
Bo Jackson's story is the stuff of American sports mythology. At Auburn University, he was a human highlight reel, winning the Heisman Trophy as college football's best player while also starring in baseball. He then defied all convention by playing both professional football for the Los Angeles Raiders and professional baseball for the Kansas City Royals—simultaneously. His athleticism was breathtaking: he ran a 4.12-second 40-yard dash, threw out baserunners from the warning track, and famously ran up a stadium wall. The 'Bo Knows' Nike campaign turned his dual-sport prowess into a cultural catchphrase. His prime was tragically cut short by a devastating hip injury suffered during a 1991 NFL playoff game, which required replacement and ended his football career. Though he returned to baseball briefly, the superhuman chapter was closed. Jackson's legacy is not just a list of stats, but the indelible image of limitless potential, a reminder of what a human body, pushed to its absolute limit, could momentarily achieve.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Bo was born in 1962, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bo Was Born
The biggest hits of 1962
#1 Movie
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Picture
Lawrence of Arabia
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Bo's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1962Born
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1967Started school
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1975Became a teenager
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Could drive
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1980Could vote
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Turned 21
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1992Turned 30
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 40
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 50
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 60
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 64 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the 1985 Heisman Trophy as the best player in American college football while at Auburn University.
- Is the only athlete to be named an MLB All-Star (1990) and an NFL Pro Bowl player (1990) in the same year.
- Hit a mammoth 461-foot home run at the 1989 MLB All-Star Game, earning MVP honors for the American League.
- His 'Bo Knows' advertising campaign for Nike is considered one of the most influential and successful in sports marketing history.
- Rushed for a 91-yard touchdown on his very first Monday Night Football carry for the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987.
Did You Know?
He once broke a baseball bat over his thigh after striking out in frustration during a game.
He was drafted first overall in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but chose to play baseball for the Royals instead, leading to his unique two-sport path.
After his hip injury, he returned to MLB with the Chicago White Sox and hit a home run on his first at-bat at Comiskey Park.
He is an accomplished bow hunter and outdoorsman.
“Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there.”
