Bo Jackson with Auburn
The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce has announced Bo Jackson will be the speaker for the 12th Annual Benefit Dinner on June 9, 2018. Tickets will go on sale Oct. 2. Sponsorships, which include VIP passes and pictures with Mr. Jackson as well as advertising, are now available. For more information call the chamber 745-0334 or visit www.athenschamber.org.
Mr. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. While at Auburn University, Mr. Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy, annually awarded to the outstanding collegiate football player in the United States. Mr. Jackson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Mr. Jackson is a former multi-sport athlete who played professional football in the NFL and Major League Baseball simultaneously, and was the first athlete named an All-Star in both sports.
Mr. Jackson was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first pick of the 1986 draft, but he opted to play baseball for the Kansas City Royals instead, spending most of the season in the minor leagues before being called up for regular duty in 1987, when he had 22 home runs, 53 RBIs and 10 stolen bases as an outfielder for the Royals. He began to show his true potential in 1989, when he was selected to the American League All-Star team, and was named the game's MVP for his play on both offense and defense.
In both baseball and football, Mr. Jackson's feats became the stuff of folklore and legend. He became a popular figure for his athleticism in multiple sports through the late 1980s and early 1990s. He endorsed Nike and launched a popular ad campaign called "Bo Knows" which envisioned Mr. Jackson attempting to take up a litany of other sports, including tennis, golf, luge, auto racing, and even blues music with Bo Diddley.
In his eight baseball seasons, Mr. Jackson had a career average of .250, hit 141 home runs and had 415 RBIs, with a slugging average of .474. In his four seasons in the NFL, Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns with an average yards per carry of 5.4. In 2013, he was named “Greatest Athlete of All-Time” by ESPN.