Bo Jackson Named Third Greatest Collegiate Athlete By SI.com - AuburnTigers.com

Bo Jackson Named Third Greatest Collegiate Athlete By SI.com Jackson played three sports at Auburn: football, baseball and track and field

Bo Jackson

July 10, 2006

AUBURN - Former Auburn running back, outfielder and track athlete Bo Jackson has been named the third greatest collegiate athlete by www.SI.com.

Jackson played football at Auburn from 1982 to 1985 and is Auburn's all-time leading rusher with 4,303 yards on 650 carries. He averaged 113.2 yards per game on the ground and scored a then-school record 43 touchdowns.

In 1985, Jackson became Auburn's second-ever Heisman Trophy winner. Jackson rushed for a single-season Auburn record 1,786 yards in 1985, averaging 162.4 yards per game and rushing for 17 touchdowns. He had four games of 200 yards or more and eight games of 100 yards or better.

The Bessemer, Ala., native collected All-America honors in 1983 and 1985 and was the Southeastern Conference's Most Valuable Player in 1985. He was named to the All-SEC team in 1982, 1983 and 1985, and in his last season with the Tigers, was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week four times. In 1998, Jackson was inducted into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame.

Jackson played baseball at Auburn in 1983, 1985 and 1986. In three seasons with the Tigers, he hit 28 home runs and drove in 70 runs. In 1985, Jackson posted career highs in runs (55), hits (59), batting average (.401), home runs (17) and RBI (43).

Jackson was selected by the Major League Baseball draft twice - in the 20th round of the 1985 draft by California and in the fourth round in 1986 by Kansas City.

Jackson also lettered in track and field in 1983 and 1984, qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 60-yard dash both seasons. His best time of 6.18 seconds still ranks tied for eighth best in Auburn history.

UCLA's Jackie Robinson was selected as the second greatest collegiate athlete by SI.com while Syracuse's Jim Brown was named No. 1.