That is the only Pro Football game I've ever been to.

You are entitled to your opinion, but with respect, that is crazy talk. You haven't done your research and you surely didn't see him play to say Bo excelled because others were in "slow motion".

Bama fan here no disrespect to anyone's opinion...you can read alot of my posts on sports in general i try and speak with my brain and not my heart....not knocking Bo but there are so many what ifs with his career......his baseball numbers are similar to Jeff francouer? Didn't know he was a stud.......speed was no doubt electric to say the least and brute strength and power as a running back...but I do not think he was the caliber running back that Barry Sanders was or Walter Payton....and this is coming from am emmit Smith fan...very unfortunate that Bo got hurt either way....just go to YouTube and watch some of the old homerun derby videos....the ones that were a tv show.....these guys were fouling balls backwards! Yes backwards! Whether we like it or not...technology and steroids have changed the game like none other...a rising senior threw the football 77 yards at the opening the other day!

That is my point about Bo and Hershel. We'll never know what they would have been with complete NFL careers. They were the best I ever saw in college, but we can only speculate as to the rest. We know Sanders and Payton were great because they got to play a whole NFL career, and for the record, once again, no disrespect for Sanders, but I think Payton was the better of those two.

True that jawbone!

Yeah slow motion is definitely an exaduration but over all team speed is the biggest difference between the Bo's day and now. When you have athletes performing like Michel Phelps,tiger woods,(bad as I hate to say it) cam Newton, etc etc against better competition it's no contest that athletes are better today.

I'm sure bo was great. But it is hard to believe there has been a better auburn player than Cam. He carried a mediocre team to a national title.

In my life (born in 64) and in my opinion - Bo Jackson is the best overall athlete the world has ever produced (Top-3 American sports football, basketball, and baseball).

I'm sure arguments could be made that swimmers, marathon runners, long distance bicyclist, and so forth are better conditioned - but, for the short bursty nature of American sports - I'd take Bo. I would rank Hershel Walker a close second. I am sure that my opinion is slanted given my love for football.

And this coming from an Alabama fan.

Dude are you 20. Bo is way faster than the majority of todays athletes also. I saw bo play many many times including over the top and I believe with all my heart that Bo would have rushed for 3000 yards in the offense that Malzahn runs If he had the same carries as Trey Mason in 2013. The holes are huge. In Bo's day they played about 11 people at the line to stop the run almost for every play. A true Great is that just great.

Bo and Hershel were 1A and 1B as the top athletes. Their speed and size still would stand out on the field.

Dude no I'm I'm 36. I saw bo play. Just because he was unstoppable on tempo bowl dosent mean he was that good in real life. The naritive with no is always "if bo". The point I'm trying to make is bo wouldn't be as much of a stand out player these days as he was in the 80's.

For the record this is sports talk so don't take things personally. The beautiful thing about sports talk is you can say what's on your mind or be knee jerk. It's not politics ,religion or vaccination shots for your kids... I have respect for you guys and the teams you pull for. That being said Roll Tide and play ball.

Sometimes, like now, I have to realize that I have a big advantage in that I saw Bo everyday for a couple of quarters at AU except the week he was in Miami getting his picture taken for the Playboy All American Team. I got to see how big and muscular he really is and then add the speed to it, it is unbelievable. Just an amazing specimen of a human, and a really nice guy to top it off.

This is laughable. Bo would be fine today and just as good. Herschel would be, too.

MDP, like you said everyone has an opinion but you were 4 yrs old when Bo left college and you were 10 when he had his career ending injury so you cant really say you saw him play. I've seen him play baseball in person on the same field. When Jawbone says he's an imposing figure in person, you dont understand just how put together that guy was and his speed had to be seen in person to full appreciate how fast he really was. Trust me, he would still be more than relevant today if he was a 18-20 yr old. He'd be even more dominant in today's spread offenses not allowing the defense to walk 8 or 9 up into the box. My son is a D1 college football player so I am still around today's athletes and trust me, Bo was a special athlete that comes along once or twice in a century and by the way, I strongly dislike Auburn so there is no bias in my opinion. He'd be a 2000
yd rusher. Just stating facts.

Yes, Bo would have been very good today and there no question he is a top 10 best athlete of all time. Does he take the #1 spot. It's debatable.
Muhammad Ali
Michael Phelps
Michael Jordan
Jim Brown
Jim Thorpe

I think you could make legitimate arguments for all the names I listed plus several more. Heck I don't even have any golf, tennis, track and field, or soccer players listed. So throw in Pele, Usain Bolt and tiger woods too.

As much as I believe Jackson is among the best ever, I don't know if I'd put him in a list of Top 10 athletes IF it includes criteria such as championships and titles. We could see what might have been if his career had not been cut short AND if he had picked one sport to fully commit to. As it is, we only got a few years and a glimpse of his greatness.

Phelps? Hell yeah. He's the GOAT for swimming, especially after laying out a year or two and coming back.

Jordan? Different era, but he was the best in the NBA. Kobe is right behind.

Boxing would be tough. Ali was great but how about Leonard?

(Side note: For those of us old enough to remember, weren't the 1980s great for boxing with Ali, Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, Duran, Boom Boom, Foreman and the others? Just a fun time to watch. Those days are gone forever for boxing.)

Bobby Jones in golf? What he did with wooden shafted clubs, chitty balls and on courses that weren't like today's manicured layouts is remarkable. Was he as dominating as Woods in his prime? No. Woods was an intimidating, boot-on-the-throat beast and had almost everyone cowered while being a likely PED-helped performer who ran roughshod.

But in golf I'd still take Nicklaus as the GOAT. Not just for majors, but look at his 2nd and 3rds and Top 10s during the 1960s and '70s. Through great play and focus he put himself in contention so often to win, won a bunch, and IMO that's the mark of a great one. Just like Kevin Van Dam in the Bassmaster Classic - he's won four but has a litany of Top 10 finishes, meaning he was there on the final day with a chance.

Lot of fun debate, for sure.

Bo Jackson was born with several gifts that couldn't be coached or conditioned. He'd be a stud now too. Anyone who doesn't believe that is only fooling themselves.

BTW, wasn't he the NFLs leading rusher when he got hurt, after spotting the other backs 4 or more games while finishing the baseball season? I'm pretty sure he made both MLB All Star and was elected to the Pro Bowl same seasons, but of course he went down and couldn't play in the Pro Bowl.

Bo was not a great MLB player. Anyone who thinks he was is kidding themselves. He has some power for sure and a great arm. But, he was never an elite player. Yes, he made the all star team, but that is based on fan vote.

Bo was a great running back.

Define athelete. I don't add swimmers, golfers, or boxers to that category.