Bo Jackson thinks he would dominate the modern day NFL.
Jackson is one of the most dominant athletes to ever live, and played several seasons in the NFL and MLB after an incredibly impressive career at Auburn. How would he be if he played in 2020 during his prime? He thinks he’d average up to 400 yards a game! (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
The legendary running back said the following during a Monday appearance on the “21st and Prime” podcast, according to Barstool Sports:
When was the last time you watched a baseball game and saw a baseball game to where everybody is doing the basics? When was the last time you saw a hit-and-run? Everybody is swinging for the fence now. You either hit it out the park or strike out. Nobody practices base stealing, nobody practices hit-and-runs, hitting the cutoff man and so forth and so on and in football I’ll say the same thing. Nobody wraps up and tackles no more…If I played during this era I’d probably be averaging 350-400 yards a game.
I hate to be the guy who rains all over Bo Jackson’s parade, but he absolutely would not average 400 yards a game if he played today.
Bo Jackson never averaged more than 86.4 yards a game in any season of his NFL career, and he was playing against defenses that are laughable compared to the ones on the field in 2020.
Linebackers in the 1980s were jokes compared to the guys playing right now. Take a look at a safety from 1988 and then compare them to a safety in 2020.
They look like they’re playing different sports, and that’s to be expected because athletes have gotten huge over the past few decades.
Bo Jackson could probably be a very solid NFL running back right now if we’re talking about how great he was in his prime. He might even be one of the best running backs in the league.
However, he would be facing the greatest defenses of his life, and your stats don’t quadruple against bigger, faster and stronger athletes.
I like Bo Jackson, but that’s a delusional comment to make.