Even if you’re not a sportsball fan, you’ve probably heard of Bo Jackson. An elite two-sport star for the NFL’s Los Angeles Raiders and MLB’s Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels, he may have captured your heart during his memorable series of “Bo Knows ...” Nike ads. Or if you’re a football fan, you’ll no doubt recall when the all-everything running back bowled over all-talk, all-show linebacker Brian Bosworth during one of the most memorable touchdown runs in Monday Night Football history. (Both players would later make light of the incident in a fun ad for Kia.)
But if all you remember about Jackson are his (undeniably impressive) achievements on the diamond and the gridiron, you’re missing a lot. Turns out Bo doesn’t just know football and baseball, he also knows how to make the world a better place, and he’s put that knowledge to good use … over and over and over again.
The Associated Press recently reported that Jackson paid for the funerals of 21 victims—19 kids and two teachers—of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, with a $170,000 donation delivered directly to Gov. Greg Abbott three days after the massacre.
“I don't know if it's because I'm getting old,” Jackson, who will turn 60 later this year, told the AP. “It’s just not right for parents to bury their kids. It’s just not right. I know every family there probably works their butts off just to do what they do ... The last thing they needed was to shell out thousands of dollars for something that never should have happened.”
The AP also notes that Jackson knew about Uvalde long before the shooting at Robb Elementary.
So Bo knows good deeds. In fact, he’s been at it so long, he’s a regular charity savant.
For instance, after tornadoes devastated areas of his native Alabama in 2011, Jackson got his legs churning once again, riding a bicycle across the state to raise money for rebuilding—and the event continues to this day.
CNN:
And through his Give Me a Chance Foundation, Jackson has also gone out of his way to provide lower-income youth with advanced athletic training opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach for them.
In a 2014 interview with the Raiders’ official website, Jackson gave an overview of the program.
Jackson is also a stutterer, so he understands the obstacles that even many gifted individuals—like, say, the president of the United States—often face. As he said during his 13-minute acceptance speech for Major League Baseball’s “Beacon of Change” award in 2013, where he cited his childhood in Jim Crow Alabama, in a tiny house with outdoor plumbing:
Jackson’s childhood no doubt contributed to his lifelong sense of compassion. After all, he’s been at this whole giving back thing for a long time. A 1993 Ebony magazine profile noted that his passion for helping disadvantaged children goes all the way back to high school:
But hey, who doesn’t slyly slip a C-note to kids at a lemonade stand who are raising money for a children’s hospital? (The look on these kids’ faces as Jackson walks away is priceless.)
Bo Jackson serves U.S. soldiers in 2004.
Oh yeah—in 2004, instead of enjoying his lifetime VIP status at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Jackson headed to Kuwait to hang out with members of the U.S. military for the weekend.
Speaking for myself, it looks like Bo knows how to warm cynical hearts, too.
Turns out Bosworth wasn’t the only one knocked off his feet by Bo. Quietly, and humbly, he’s been bowling people over with his generosity for years. As Jackson said when he won the MLB Beacon award in 2013,"I try to do what I can to give back. I say that from the standpoint that the country supported me in what I was doing 20, 25 years ago. It's only right that I give back in some capacity. ... I do it from the heart."
The Uvalde shooting was heartbreaking and tragic beyond compare, but as long as people like Jackson keep doing what they do, we can afford to hold out some hope for our future.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.
But if all you remember about Jackson are his (undeniably impressive) achievements on the diamond and the gridiron, you’re missing a lot. Turns out Bo doesn’t just know football and baseball, he also knows how to make the world a better place, and he’s put that knowledge to good use … over and over and over again.
The Associated Press recently reported that Jackson paid for the funerals of 21 victims—19 kids and two teachers—of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, with a $170,000 donation delivered directly to Gov. Greg Abbott three days after the massacre.
“I don't know if it's because I'm getting old,” Jackson, who will turn 60 later this year, told the AP. “It’s just not right for parents to bury their kids. It’s just not right. I know every family there probably works their butts off just to do what they do ... The last thing they needed was to shell out thousands of dollars for something that never should have happened.”
The AP also notes that Jackson knew about Uvalde long before the shooting at Robb Elementary.
So Bo knows good deeds. In fact, he’s been at it so long, he’s a regular charity savant.
For instance, after tornadoes devastated areas of his native Alabama in 2011, Jackson got his legs churning once again, riding a bicycle across the state to raise money for rebuilding—and the event continues to this day.
CNN:
And through his Give Me a Chance Foundation, Jackson has also gone out of his way to provide lower-income youth with advanced athletic training opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach for them.
In a 2014 interview with the Raiders’ official website, Jackson gave an overview of the program.
Jackson is also a stutterer, so he understands the obstacles that even many gifted individuals—like, say, the president of the United States—often face. As he said during his 13-minute acceptance speech for Major League Baseball’s “Beacon of Change” award in 2013, where he cited his childhood in Jim Crow Alabama, in a tiny house with outdoor plumbing:
Jackson’s childhood no doubt contributed to his lifelong sense of compassion. After all, he’s been at this whole giving back thing for a long time. A 1993 Ebony magazine profile noted that his passion for helping disadvantaged children goes all the way back to high school:
But hey, who doesn’t slyly slip a C-note to kids at a lemonade stand who are raising money for a children’s hospital? (The look on these kids’ faces as Jackson walks away is priceless.)
Bo Jackson serves U.S. soldiers in 2004.
Oh yeah—in 2004, instead of enjoying his lifetime VIP status at Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Jackson headed to Kuwait to hang out with members of the U.S. military for the weekend.
Speaking for myself, it looks like Bo knows how to warm cynical hearts, too.
Turns out Bosworth wasn’t the only one knocked off his feet by Bo. Quietly, and humbly, he’s been bowling people over with his generosity for years. As Jackson said when he won the MLB Beacon award in 2013,"I try to do what I can to give back. I say that from the standpoint that the country supported me in what I was doing 20, 25 years ago. It's only right that I give back in some capacity. ... I do it from the heart."
The Uvalde shooting was heartbreaking and tragic beyond compare, but as long as people like Jackson keep doing what they do, we can afford to hold out some hope for our future.
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.