You Don't Know Bo: The Legend of Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson's story deserves a feature-length film. This documentary is very well done, but it left me wanting to see more.

I saw Bo do things that most people would think are impossible feats. There was the time when he outran a group of challengers who had as much as a 30-yard head start in a foot race from one end of Auburn's football field to the other. I also saw Bo at bat one day when some of rival University of Alabama fans were hurling ice and racial epithets at him from behind the backstop. Bo turned around, smiled and waved at the hecklers, and then hit a tremendous home run that sounded like a Howitzer going off. I also saw him with tears running down his cheeks after visiting his dying mother at UAB hospital in Birmingham. For all of his blessings, he is still as mortal as the rest of us are. He really is a fine human being in addition to being the greatest athlete to ever walk this planet.

Another great doc by ESPN and the 30 for 30 crew.

What I forgot is just how big Bo Jackson was in the late 80's. He might not of been as popular as MJ, but he probably came close.

Another thing is checking out his stats, he never was great or elite in either sport, but he showed flashes of greatness, with baseball being a better overall career.

What I didn't realize is Bo was thought of as a football player first, and no one gave any thought to him being a baseball player. Baseball is a sport where you see players nurtured for years and years regardless of physical gifts. Bo was basically able to step right in and make an impact with Royals almost immediately. He didn't use baseball as leverage, he seemed like he honestly enjoyed the game.

Finally, what's sad is Bo is probably the last of the all-around athlete. Today, players must choose between baseball and football. Bo wanted to play both because he was a specimen and it just seemed natural.

What Bo might be remembered for is the "Bo Knows" campaign. I remember when it first appeared and I was like "holy crap!" moment. It was hip, edgy, and effective. It was one of the great ad campaigns ever.

30 for 30: You Don't Know Bo (2012)

**** (out of 4)

Another excellent entry in the ESPN series, this one here taking a look at the quick career of Bo Jackson who managed to become a star in both MLB and the NFL. Teammates, former coaches and other commentators talk about the impact that Jackson had through high school, college and then eventually in the professional leagues. A very good comments is mentioned that Jackson has pretty much been overlooked because he never set any records, won any major awards in the pros and there are very few clips of him seen today. The speaker goes on to say that you really had to be living in that period to get the full impact of what Jackson did and I think this is true but this wonderful documentary really lets people know who wasn't there what this man accomplished and what he could have done had he not been injured so badly. The documentary really does a fantastic job at reminding people of what a talent Jackson was and the viewer really gets a great idea of what that period was like. The marketing side of Jackson is also discussed in great detail and what he did for Nike is just as impressive as his playing career. Some of the best moments come from Jackson himself who talks about his career and we get an incredibly sad sequence where he talks about his first hit for his mother who had recently passed away.

A very by-the-numbers summary of life in the spotlight for Bo Jackson. Though we get a few short sound bites from friends and teammates who knew him before he became a marketing slogan, the vast majority of this short film is spent breathlessly recounting his greatest hits in MLB and the NFL. There's plenty of material; Bo was truly one-of-a-kind and though his career flickered out early, for a short while it burned brighter than a supernova. I just kept waiting for something more than a long-form highlight reel, and evidently that wasn't the purpose of this exercise. An enjoyable trip down memory lane for anyone caught in Bo's thrall in the early '90s, it's not particularly intimate or revealing.