Deion is always in the discussion until somebody recalls he tackled like a 12 year old girl.
Bo was the complete package and with a larger body of work, he’d easily be among the RB greats of the 80’s.
Great Bo Jackson story...
- Thread starter Kinnick.At.Night
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Bo was the complete package and with a larger body of work, he’d easily be among the RB greats of the 80’s.
It’s hilarious that people are comparing Deion Sanders to Bo Jackson. A comparison of sheer athletic attributes between the two is laughable. Jackson was clearly the superior athlete.
Don't take my word for it. Here's the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Twelve running backs are included - Bo is not one of them.
Seven cornerbacks, including Deion.
Bo missed the minimum games cutoff, so list is irrelevant.
Oh, I don't think it's hilarious. They have different attributes. Which would you pick for your team to play, let's say... basketball? Bo's combination of size and speed sets him apart, but Deion is in the conversation.
Yeah it is actually kind of relevant. Bo does not get to be in the comparison conversation due to his career ending so shortly. You can't compare Bo, a running back who played 3.5 year and never broke 1,000 yards rushing in a season to the greatest player at his position in the NFL. To a guy who won to Super Bowls and played in a World Series (only person ever) and also returned kicks, punts and played WR. Deion only guy to hit a homerun and score a touchdown in the same freakin week.
I am not sure some realize how fast he was...still not sure we seen another faster man in pads. He had another gear.
You can see it here when he gets to the 40. Look what he does in that 20 yards from the 40 to the 40. Don't blink you -will miss it.
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I see it like this: Deion’s greatest feature was his speed. Bo Jackson was every bit as fast as Deion. Bo was also one hell of a lot stronger. He was bigger. He was heavier. He had a HOF arm from the outfield. He could hit a baseball 500 feet. He set state records in field events as a track athlete and was one of the best decathletes in the country his senior year.
Of course, Deion achieved more on the field than Bo did. He played a full career! Bo was gone before he even found his stride.
I see it like this: Deion’s greatest feature was his speed. Bo Jackson was every bit as fast as Deion. Bo was also one hell of a lot stronger. He was bigger. He was heavier. He had a HOF arm from the outfield. He could hit a baseball 500 feet. He set state records in field events as a track athlete and was one of the best decathletes in the country his senior year.
Of course, Deion achieved more on the field than Bo did. He played a full career! Bo was gone before he even found his stride.
Bo ran a 10.39 100 meter dash in college. Officially. If Deion was faster than that, it was by whiskers. People talk about Prime Time like he was Ron Brown or Darrell Green. He absolutely was not.
Two bo stories.
Sat next to him on a flight from ord-lax about a month after 9-11. Dude was funny as hell about how he’d kick bin ladens ass because of the security bs.
Went to a royals vs rangers game in arlington with a customer at the time. Bo hit the hardest ball i’ve ever seen. Thing was still rising as it cleared the left field wall. The ss actually jumped up thinking he had had a chance to catch.
As if we needed more evidence, ESPN recently convened a panel of experts to name the all-time GOAT at every position in the NFL.
At cornerback? You guessed, it > https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...t-edge-rusher-linebacker-cornerback-kicker#cb
Running back? Bo doesn't even get a mention > https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...ack-running-back-receiver-offensive-tackle#rb
(Deion also got votes as a Special Teamer)
At cornerback? You guessed, it > https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...t-edge-rusher-linebacker-cornerback-kicker#cb
Running back? Bo doesn't even get a mention > https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...ack-running-back-receiver-offensive-tackle#rb
(Deion also got votes as a Special Teamer)
Some stud RBs on that list. Wow. They just don't use running backs that way anymore but those guys were coveted in fantasy.
Deion Sanders blew him away.
First of all at their primary position in their primary sport, Bo was never the best at his position any of the 4 years he played and never got a thousand yards in a season. Don’t believe me? In 87 the best running backs were Eric Dickerson and Herschel Walker were tops when looking at the combo of total yards, TDs, ypa etc... In 88 it was the same two plus Ickey Woods, James Brooks, and Roger Craig. In 89 it was Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Christian Okoye. And in 90 it was Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Barry Word, and Marion Butts. That’s why his career highlight was his only in 1990 Pro Bowl nod as a backup. Conversely, Deion was THE best corner in the NFL most of his career and had 9 first team AllPro Selections as a corner PLUS 2 separate first team AllPro selections as punt and kick returner.
Second of all, just talking football....Deion was a multi role player. He’s literally one of only two players in NFL history to score six different ways (rush td, receiving td, punt return, kickoff return, interception and fumble). And he was not in those other roles as a token of his stardom, he produced. He is still THE ONLY NFL player in the modern era to not only play on both sides of the ball...he STARTED on both sides of the ball while simultaneously being the punt and kick returner. One year he was the second leading receiver for the cowboys behind only Michael Irvin and ahead of Emmitt Smith and Darryl Johnston.
Then in other sports Deion eclipses Bo in baseball quite a bit. Deion Sanders finished with a career .263 hitting percentage and .319 on base percentage over a 13 year career to Bo’s .250 hitting percentage and .309 on base percentage over an 8 year career. Deion’s best year was 92 where he batted .304 for a .346 obp compared to Bo’s best in 90 where he batted .273 for a .342 obp. The one thing that Bo gave that Deion didn’t was homers (not that he was a wrecking crew but in his best year he did hit 141 in his career to Sanders 49) but that is offset by Deion’s many steals (186 to 81) and the fact that Deion was one of the better defensive centerfielders in the game while Bo was a defensive liability and frequently played DH along with his official position of LF.
Just for further clarification, Deion is the only person to hit a homerun in the MLB and a td in the NFL the same week. He’s also the only person to play in both World Series and Super Bowls.
This has been covered but he didn’t play long enough for these lists. But anyone old enough to remember watching him live (well, maybe any teenager) there was no one else where you kind of held your breath to see what freaky thing he was going to do. Closest other for me was Deion returning punts, and Jordan in dunk contests.
What a dumb argument. Bo Jackson only played in 38 games! That’s just over two seasons. Of course he’s not going to be on any all-time great lists.
And yet you guys seem to think that a RB with only 38 games under his belt is definitively better than the GOAT cornerback.
I’m saying he was a superior athlete. As in, if prime Bo and Deion competed in a decathlon, Bo would whip his ass.
Deion Sanders blew him away.
First of all at their primary position in their primary sport, Bo was never the best at his position any of the 4 years he played and never got a thousand yards in a season. Don’t believe me? In 87 the best running backs were Eric Dickerson and Herschel Walker were tops when looking at the combo of total yards, TDs, ypa etc... In 88 it was the same two plus Ickey Woods, James Brooks, and Roger Craig. In 89 it was Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Christian Okoye. And in 90 it was Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Barry Word, and Marion Butts. That’s why his career highlight was his only in 1990 Pro Bowl nod as a backup. Conversely, Deion was THE best corner in the NFL most of his career and had 9 first team AllPro Selections as a corner PLUS 2 separate first team AllPro selections as punt and kick returner.
Second of all, just talking football....Deion was a multi role player. He’s literally one of only two players in NFL history to score six different ways (rush td, receiving td, punt return, kickoff return, interception and fumble). And he was not in those other roles as a token of his stardom, he produced. He is still THE ONLY NFL player in the modern era to not only play on both sides of the ball...he STARTED on both sides of the ball while simultaneously being the punt and kick returner. One year he was the second leading receiver for the cowboys behind only Michael Irvin and ahead of Emmitt Smith and Darryl Johnston.
Then in other sports Deion eclipses Bo in baseball quite a bit. Deion Sanders finished with a career .263 hitting percentage and .319 on base percentage over a 13 year career to Bo’s .250 hitting percentage and .309 on base percentage over an 8 year career. Deion’s best year was 92 where he batted .304 for a .346 obp compared to Bo’s best in 90 where he batted .273 for a .342 obp. The one thing that Bo gave that Deion didn’t was homers (not that he was a wrecking crew but in his best year he did hit 141 in his career to Sanders 49) but that is offset by Deion’s many steals (186 to 81) and the fact that Deion was one of the better defensive centerfielders in the game while Bo was a defensive liability and frequently played DH along with his official position of LF.
Just for further clarification, Deion is the only person to hit a homerun in the MLB and a td in the NFL the same week. He’s also the only person to play in both World Series and Super Bowls.
Those others were all great RB's, goes to show the talent of that era.
That being said, you conveniently, to support your argument of Deion being better, leave out the fact the Bo only played about 10 games a year for the Raiders. Part of him even agreeing to play in the NFL was Al Davis allowing him to finish his baseball season with KC. And on top of that, he also missed training camps and basically went right from baseball to football, which shows even more the raw talent he had. And one other thing, Marcus Allen was also there getting a decent amount of yards, even if under-utilized because of his relationship with Al Davis.
Side note, as a kid who was a diehard Royals and Chiefs fan at the time, it was bittersweet at the end of the baseball season to have to see him head from my favorite baseball team, to one of the Chiefs division rivals.
*Edit....I now realize Tenacious E pointed out some of the above also, hadn't read all of the comments when I saw FSU's post the wasn't including all the Bo facts.
Great point. If only Deion had been able to juggle highly successful NFL and MLB careers...
I am not saying Deion wasn't a great athlete, he was for sure, and loved watching him play. I just had to point out some left out information on Bo Jackson's side.
Bo played football as a hobby like we go fishing and he was still an all time great. If he played for real this wouldn't even be a conversation.
Exactly, that's kind of what I was getting at, he was a baseball player first, that played football in his spare time. He turned down the Buccaneers 5 year $7.6 million offer after they took him with the 1st pick of the NFL draft, to sign with the Royals on a 3 year $1.07 million deal. This was both because of his love for baseball, but also because he was pissed at Tampa bay for getting him suspended for the last part of his senior year of baseball at Auburn, and said he would never play for them.
Dude was also a world class sprinter, which is amazing for his size. His pro day 40 yd dash time was an electronic 4.13. He considered a career in track, but decided baseball and football would offer too much more money to pass up.
Still makes me smile seeing Nolan Ryan putting Ventura in a headlock and giving him the business.
I think they are close in how they impacted games which they played in. Bo was a blazingly bright shooting star with his short career. Deion lasted a lot longer. Harder for just a cornerback to be as impactful, but he was unbelievable returning punts for a long time and absolutely changed the games he played in.
Because....Bo trained in decathlon?
Bo had tremendous potential. Deion proved to be the best two sport athlete.
These Nole fans are absolutely delusional. Holy shitakes. Bo was the far superior athlete AINEC!
Deion was the anchor on FSU's 4x100 relay team. His best 100 meter time is listed at 10.26.
I'm a Bo Jackson fan. I'm just trying to be objective.
I know. Deion may have been slightly faster over 100 meters than Jackson. Great. Bo dominates basically all other measures of athleticism.
Slightly faster? That's the difference between first and last on the average 100m race.
JFC, you’re insufferable. How about this: Deion was way, way faster than Bo. Light years different. OK? Have that one little thing. I’ll take everything else athletically.
