Legend Bo Jackson elected to the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals announced that former All-Star outfielder Bo Jackson has been elected to the Royals Hall of Fame.
Kansas City plans to honor him inside Kauffman Stadium during an on-field ceremony on June 29 before the Royals face the Cleveland Guardians.
Jackson's legendary ability in baseball and football far outweighed his short-lived career. The running back earned a Heisman Trophy at Auburn in 1985 and was drafted first overall in the 1986 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In June of '86, the Royals selected Jackson in the fourth round of the MLB draft. To spite Bucs owner Hugh Culverhouse, Jackson decided not to play in the NFL out of college and focused on professional baseball instead.
He made his Major League debut on Sept. 2, 1986, and then crushed a 475-foot home run 12 days later inside Royals stadium as a rookie. His arm strength and speed in the outfield were unlike anything people had seen at that time.
In 1987, Jackson was again made eligible to be drafted by an NFL team and the Los Angeles Raiders did just that in the seventh round. Since the two pro sports seasons overlapped, he would play in the MLB for the entirety of each Royals season and then dominated the NFL for the remainder of each Raiders season until 1990.
Jackson's sheer batting power was best displayed in the 1989 season producing 32 home runs and 105 RBIs that year. He also earned the 1989 MLB All-Star Game MVP after he hit a homer during his first at-bat. He also led the Royals in homers in the 1990 season with 28.
Jackson compiled 460 hits, 109 home runs and 313 RBIs in his five years with the Royals.
“I’m so happy for my friend Bobo to get that call,” MLB Hall of Famer George Brett said in a statement. “He was a great teammate and probably the most exciting player I ever played with."
"You’d see things that no other human could do on a baseball field or a football field. He’s one of the greatest athletes of our time, and it’s an honor to welcome him to the Royals Hall of Fame, where he belongs.”
His NFL career came to a halt in 1990 with a gruesome leg injury as a Raider that also ended his Royals career. Jackson went on to play three more years in the MLB - two with the Chicago White Sox and one with the California Angels - before hanging up the cleats.