Auburn Football: Top 25 Best Former Auburn Tigers in NFL History
10. Bo Jackson, RB
The greatest Auburn football player of all-time, and one of the best athletes of his generation, Bo Jackson is the only person to be selected to both the Pro Bowl and Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Jackson rushed for 4,303 yards and 43 touchdowns for the Tigers, won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and was selected first overall in the 1896 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, he didn’t sign with the Bucs and played pro baseball in the Kansas City Royals organization instead. The Los Angeles Raiders took a flier on Jackson in the 7th round of the 1987 draft, which is now known as one of the biggest steals in draft history.
Because he played baseball in the summer, Jackson never played a full season for the Raiders and missed at least the first five games of every NFL season, but when he was available he was one of the league’s best.
As a rookie in 1987, Bo played in just seven games but ran for 554 yards and four touchdowns on just 81 carries – an eye-popping average of 6.8 yards per carry that included a 91-yard touchdown as part of a Raiders franchise record 221 yards against Seattle. Jackson added 16 catches for 136 yards and two more TDs.
Jackson ran for a career-high 950 yards in 1989 in only eleven games, including a 92-yard touchdown run against Cincinnati in Week 9, making him the only player in NFL history with two TD runs of 90 yards or more (he also had an 88-yarder in 1990 – no wonder TecmoBo couldn’t be tackled).
In 1990, Jackson was selected to the Pro Bowl after rushing for 698 yards and five touchdowns in ten games. Unfortunately, he suffered a career-ending hip injury in a playoff game against the Bengals.
If not for the injury, Bo Jackson may have been one of the greatest players in NFL history – even if he only played the game part time.
Bo Jackson NFL Highlights via TrunkMonkeyRaider:
Next: 8. Joe Cribbs