Bo Jackson
Professional Football AND Baseball Star
The 51st winner of the Heisman Trophy, Auburn's great running back Bo Jackson, is such a remarkable all-round athlete that, if there were Heisman awards in baseball and track, he would almost certainly have won them, too.
As the nation's premier ball-carrier, Jackson was the spearhead of Auburn's return to football prominence. Under the inspired direction of Coach Pat Dye, the school has produced the best teams since the national championship days of 1957, when the revered Ralph "Shug" Jordan coached the Tigers to first place in the Associated Press poll. Jackson was the second Auburn football star to win the Heisman Trophy. In 1971, quarterback Pat Sullivan took the prize. In his freshman year Bo averaged 6.4 yards per rush, sprinted a 6.18 second sixty-yard dash for the track team, and hit .279 as the starting centerfielder in baseball. In 1985, Jackson led the nation in all four main categories of ball-carrying as late as the eighth week of the season. At that point, he was tops in total rushing yardage, average per carry, touchdowns scored, and yards-per-game. Bo retired from baseball in 1995 and is pursuing an acting career.