Auburn Football: The five best, and five worst, NFL first-round picks from Auburn
By Chris Roush
5. Bo Jackson, selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986
This selection was an extremely bad pick because the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner refused to sign with the Buccaneers after owner Hugh Culverhouse promised him that a trip to visit the team wouldn’t hurt his eligibility for the Tigers baseball team in 1986.
After that happened, Jackson signed with the Kansas City Royals and played minor league baseball for the Memphis Chicks before a late-September call-up to the Royals.
A year later, the Oakland Raiders took a flyer by picking Jackson in the seventh round, and he promptly signed with them. His four-year NFL career was cut short by his hip injury, but 2,782 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns was well worth the selection.
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No team likes to waste the No. 1 overall pick. The Buccaneers would have at least 10 losses in nine of the next 10 seasons and not make the playoffs for more than a decade.