It has long been debated as to who is the best athlete of all time, yet nobody has ever really had a legitimate answer to the question. There has been so many amazing athletes over the years, from many different sports. It is hard to compare athletes from different sports to each other but, there are definitely a couple that stick out as the best of all time. A few that come to mind are Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and many more. As for me, there is no doubt in my mind that Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete of all time.
There are a tremendous amount of reason as for why I believe Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete of all time. One of the main reasons that so many people see him as the best of all time is
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because he played two professional sports. There are many people that can not even make into the major leagues in one sport, but to do it in two sports, that's special. There are only a handful of people who have been talented enough to do this. However, he not only played two professional sports, but he is the the only player in history to make it to the ALL STAR game in both. Not to mention, most of the people that played two professional sports quit one sport and then played the other. That is not the case with Bo, he played them both at the same time. In High school Bo was a very talented athlete.
He played baseball, football, and ran track. He was highly recruited out of high school because of his ridiculous athletic ability at such an early age. He was recruited by the New York Yankees out of high school but, he ended turning them down to go play football and baseball at the University of Auburn. He was very successful at Auburn, leading his baseball team to victories, leading his football team to a Sugar Bowl victory and being named MVP, and also qualifying for the men’s US Olympic track and field team. By the time Jackson graduated Auburn University he owned almost every single Auburn rushing record. Most of Jackson’s records still stand today as the best all time at Auburn. He is the all time leading rusher, he has the highest yards per carry, and he owns the record for most yards per game. He is also second all time in touchdowns scored, only behind Cadillac Williams. There is no doubt that he is the best Auburn running back ever. Just look a the statistics. He was virtually unstoppable as he lead his team to a Sugar Bowl victory. To top it all off he also won the Heisman Trophy, which goes to the most outstanding college football player in the United …show more content…
States. After his successful career at the University of Auburn, he decided to go professional. In 1986 he was the first overall pick, drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bo had told the Buccaneers owner not to draft him yet, he drafted him anyways and Bo told them no. After turning the Bucs down, he joined MLB in 1986 and played for the Kansas City Royals. Jackson had a very successful MLB career. He ended up playing for the Chicago White Sox and the California Angels as well as the Royals. In just his 4th season in MLB, he made it to the ALL STAR game. He was the leadoff hitter for his side in the game and in his first at bat he hit a monster home run. He went on to win Most Valuable Player of the ALL STAR game, becoming the first Kansas City Royal to receive the honor. The following year in 1990, Jackson tied the record for most consecutive at bat home runs with 4 home runs. During his time in baseball he also reached 4 seasons with 20 or more home runs. After his first six seasons in baseball he hurt his hip playing football. He was not expected to ever come back to sport but, with only missing one year of baseball he returned and played just as good as he did before he left. He played two more seasons of baseball but, he said it did not feel the same and he wanted to help more in raising his kids so he walked away from baseball forever. In the 1986 NFL draft Bo turned down the Bucs and went to play baseball but, the following year the L.A.
Rams offered him a contract and he took it. In his first year with the Rams, he only played 7 games and still ended up rushing for 554 yards. This was more than over half of the running backs in the league. Many of those yards came on a Monday Night football game where he rushed for a record breaking 221 yards. In 1989, Bo rushed for 950 yards in just 11 games which was more than anybody with that amount of carries. The following year he had an outstanding year and made the NFL pro bowl but, he never got to play in it because of an injury. It was in a playoff game that year when he got tackled and hurt his hip. He fought hard to come back but, he never could overcome the injury. He never played another snap of football. He finished his football career with 515 carries for 2,782 yards in just 4 seasons and none of those seasons did he get to play every game do to
baseball. Bo Jackson has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame in football or baseball yet. This is mostly due to his injury. He was only able to play 4 half football seasons because of his injury but, he was certainly on pace to set a lot of records and place his name in the Hall of Fame. Bo had the perfect combination of size, strength, and speed to be a NFL running back. He was 6”1, 220lbs, strong as an ox, and he set the NFL record in the 40 yard dash during the 1986 NFL combine. He ran a 4.12 forty yard dash which was the fastest time ever recorded. This record still stands to this day which is very impressive. If he would have got to finish his career he would definitely be in the NFL Hall of Fame along with the MLB Hall of Fame. No matter what sport Bo was playing he was always the best athlete on the field. It is hard to argue that he is not the best athlete of all time considering he is the only player in history to make an ALL STAR game in two sports. Not to mention the fact that he qualified for the US Olympic team with his insane speed. After looking at the stats, accomplishments, and awards Bo received it is very clear that he is the best athlete of all time. Even sports scientist from ESPN declared that Bo is the best athlete of all time.
He did very well in all of these sports and won many trophies. He went on to play football for the Honolulu
Kenny started his career in sports at UCLA playing football and baseball (Bowen). In fact, he played baseball with Jackie Robinson at UCLA. However, when he graduated he decided to stick with football (Amaral). While he was at college, he made an outstanding record in rushing yards (Bowen). At the end of his college career, he had approximately 3,206 yards rushing (Amaral). Most running backs don’t average that many yards in their professional career! He also won an award for the best college
He spent most of the 1910 season playing for a minor league club in New Orleans, where he would win the batting title and lead that team to the pennant. Late in that season, Jackson would be called up to the big league club. He went on to play twenty games and had a .387 batting average for that season in the majors. The 1911 season would be Jackson’s first full season, he would go on to set a number of records by a rookie player that year. He set the record batting average by a rookie with a .408 average.
Martin, Vince. "Why Bo Jackson Is the Greatest Athlete Ever." Yahoo Contributor Network. Yahoo, 12 Sept. 2006. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Bo knows what it is like to be called one of the greatest athletes of all time. Vincent “Bo” Jackson had to overcome a lot as a child, he was the eighth of ten children that his mom took care of. His family was very poor, and not knowing his father very well did not help the cause. Jackson overcame poverty by working hard, excelling at multiple sports, and staying out of trouble.
“We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” by William Moller and “Cheating and CHEATING” by Joe Posnanski are both articles that mention the use of steroids in the world of sports today. In “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals” William Moller writes an article on the reasons why professional athletes take steroids. He starts off with a “personal story” to help support the reason as to why athletes take steroids. He started off by telling us when he was in high school he really needed to do well. And always wanted to try and go above and beyond. Because he wanted to do so well in school he made a really big decision and took class 3 drugs so he could stay awake. This is a type of steroid; he thought that taking the drug was a lot better than failing a test. Moller then goes on to saying that the only reason that athletes take steroids is because of
Eventually a choice was made and Jackson would attend Auburn University, this is where his name began to mean something. Bo’s biggest accomplishment throughout his career, you could say, was winning the Heisman trophy in his senior season of football at Auburn University. Other than that he didn’t really accomplish much, he never won a Super Bowl or Wor...
Michael Jordan, what comes to your mind when you hear that name? Michael had played for the bulls and had gotten 6 championship rings with the team. Well, is it just me or does that sound like a lot of time in the game of basketball? In 1982 he took a big step up from highschool to college, where he wanted to pursue the basketball dream. He went to college at North Carolina where he played NCAA basketball for just one year before he was drafted in 1984. All eyes were on him when he went on the court, because that just how good he was at the game of basketball. Michael Jordan is one of the greatest players in NBA history, maybe even the greatest of all time.
Jackie Robinson once said that “"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." (Brainy Quotes). Jackie Robinson faced more abuse than any other baseball player. Jackie Robinson had his mind set on breaking the color barrier for African Americans. Jackie Robinson had the muscle strength and talent to inspire and change the color barrier in Major League baseball. Jackie Robinson was one of the most significant baseball players that America has ever known for Jackie Robinson’s bravery to stop the color barrier for, his inspiration he gave to people all around the world and for his accomplishments during baseball and outside of baseball this made him one of the most valuable players in the National League.
Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Ozzie Smith, and Tony Gwynn; What do they all have in common? They are all some of the most famous African-American baseball players to ever play in the Major Leagues. One man, though, made it possible for all of them to play in the Major Leagues. That man’s name is Jackie Robinson. Although Jackie Robinson faced many adversities throughout his lifetime, he persevered and became the first African-American in Major League Baseball, breaking the color barrier and changing the world of baseball forever.
How do you measure the greatness of the two biggest NBA superstars of all time? Michael Jordan is significantly known for being the ultimate basketball player in NBA history. However, LeBron James is considered one of the top basketball players in the NBA now. There inspiring leadership and unbelievable talent on the court makes it hard for us to choose a winner. James is continuously breaking NBA history, but Jordan's mighty legacy is considered unbreakable. Why can't both exceptional players be valued and appreciated, rather than compared?
77% of NBA basketball players are African-American, approximately 343 players, compared to the 0% or none we had in the earlier 1950’s, in just 60 years we went up 77%. (Travis Waldron 63 Years Ago Today
The "G.O.A.T.", is coming used term in the sports world meaning, The Greatest of All Time. In the National Basketball Association, when you mention the term, the "G.O.A.T., everyone assumes of one name and one name only, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was an innovator of the basketball work and influenced many different people and players that inputted & mimicked Jordan’s style of play and implicated it into their own game. In today's generation, there are several players that many average day people would consider these players on the road to becoming a Jordan type of player, potential or maybe even greater; players that may be able on road to sharing a Michael Jordan type of legacy includes Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
It is evident that Jesse Owens proved to the world what no one at the time believed could be achieved. At a time when Blacks were not equal, there was no appreciation possible in the eyes of the Americans until the civil rights movement following after the cold war. Jesse Owens dealt with much more than any African American could ever imagine. Regardless of his immense achievements, Owens did not receive recognition for such important winnings until several years after the 1936 Olympics. Despite the hate that Owens received, he was able to surpass such negativity by being involved in other organizations and through this, Owens was victorious not only on the track but also as normal human being.
Being so powerful allowed him to continue on his forceful journey all the way to becoming a professional known for throwing people around like it was easy for him and he continues to do this for the Carolina Panthers in the NFL every sunday just like he was depicted throughout the