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Bo Jackson - Retires From Sports Early

Jackson married his college sweetheart Linda Garrett in 1987. Together they had two sons, Garrett and Nicholas, followed by daughter Morgan. In 1994, Jackson left professional athletics for good. It was another of his surprising moves. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family. He had grown up poor, without a father, and with a mother who was too busy to spend much time with her children. Jackson had vowed not to let that happen to his family.

After leaving professional athletics, Jackson declined offers to coach or work with the administrative staffs of many teams that came to him. As he told ESPN reporter Bob Brown, he wants "no part of big-time sports." "Now I cherish my privacy," he says. "I've left professional sports. Believe it. I got a life."

Jackson now has many business ventures, all of which are centered in Alabama. He organizes his many businesses under N'Genuity. He has Bo Jackson Enterprises, based in Mobile, and this business is the coordinating hub of many of the other businesses he operates, from nutritional food products to suppliers of manpower nationwide.

Chronology

1962 Born November 30 in Bessemer, Alabama, to A.D. Adams and Florence Bond
1975 At age 13, faced with reform school, Jackson makes choice to clean up his act and focus energies into sports rather than getting into trouble
1982 Offered a contract with the New York Yankees. Turns it down to go to college
1982 Enters Auburn University, becomes standout in football and baseball
1983 Runs for 1213 yards his sophomore season and compared to Herschel Walker
1984 Sidelined from football with a severe shoulder separation
1985 Selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the California Angels. Declines and returns to Auburn for his senior year
1986 Joins Auburn's baseball team in the spring. Dominates with his bat
1986 Overall first choice in NFL Draft
1986 Signs contract with the Kansas City Royals
1987 Drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders to play in the NFL after the baseball season
1987 Marries Linda Garrett. They will have three children together
1990 Pens autobiography, Bo Knows Bo
1991 Suffers debilitating hip injury while playing for the Raiders, ending his football career.
1991 The Chicago White Sox pick up Jackson's option from Kansas City
1992 Undergoes hip replacement surgery
1993 Dedicates season to his mother, who had recently died of cancer
1993 Helps White Sox capture the American League West Championship
1994 Deciding to dedicate more time to his family, he retires from baseball following the '94 season
1995 Completes his undergraduate degree and graduates from Auburn in December
1996 Studies acting, and gets bit parts in movies The Chamber and The Sentinel

Awards and Accomplishments

1982 Football News Freshman All-American
1983 Named Most Valuable Player in Sugar Bowl; consensus All-American
1984 Named Most Valuable Player in Liberty Bowl
1985 Won Heisman Trophy
1985 Named Sporting News and UPI College Player of the Year
1985 Sporting News College All-American
1985 College Baseball Coaches Association All-Region Team
1985 College Baseball Coaches Association All-District Team
1985 Wins the Tanqueray award for excellence in amateur sports
1986 Voted Most Valuable Player in the Cotton Bowl
1987 Bert Bell Trophy; earned NFL's Rookie of the Year Award
1989 Voted American League All-Star and All-Star Game's MVP
1990 Named among the 25 Most Intriguing People by People magazine
1990 Selected to the Pro Bowl
1992 Winner of Jim Thorpe Legacy Award
1992 Recipient of "Power to Overcome Award" by Easter Seals
1993 Named the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year
1999 Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame

Though he wasn't the first professional athlete to play more than one sport concurrently, Bo Jackson has become the most recognized person ever to do so. Jackson's speed and power on both the baseball diamond and the football field were legendary, earning him awards as well awe and respect. His decision to leave the world of professional sports in 1994 stunned people, leaving many to wonder, were it not for injuries that plagued him throughout his career, how many records he might have broken.

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