thought that Jackson would opt to play professional
football instead of baseball, he slipped to the fourth
round in the 1986 Major Baseball League (MLB)
amateur draft before being chosen by the Kansas
City Royals. Jackson surprised almost everyone when
he signed with the Royals. He debuted in the Royals
outfield on September 2, 1986. He hit his first home
run for the Royals on September 14, and it was the
longest home run that had ever been hit in Royals
Stadium.
In 1987, Jackson hit 22 home runs for the Royals.
He also played in seven NFL games for the Oakland
Raiders and gained 554 yards for an outstanding av-
erage of 6.8 yards per carry. In 1988, he hit 25 home
runs and stole 27 bases for the Royals and gained 580
yards in ten games for the Raiders. Jackson’s best sea-
son in the major leagues was 1989, when he hit 32
home runs and drove in 105 runs. He was named to
play for the American League in the 1989 All-Star
Game, and he was named the MVP of the game. Just
a few months after the baseball season ended, Jack-
son was selected to play in the NFL Pro Bowl. During
his eight-year MLB career, Jackson hit 141 home
runs, drove in 415 runs, and batted .250. In his four-
year NFL career—which was ended by an injury in
1991—Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards, caught 40
passes for 352 yards, and scored 18 touchdowns.
Impact Bo Jackson was an exceptional athlete and
was the first individual ever to be selected as an all-
star in two professional sports. He has been heralded
as one of the greatest two-sport athletes in history.
He was a starting outfielder for the Kansas City
Royals and a starting running back for the Oakland
Raiders. In his first time at bat as an MLB All-Star, he
hit a mammoth home run that traveled about 448
feet. In a single 1987 NFL game against the Seattle
Seahawks, he rushed for 221 yards. As a result of his
success in two professional sports, Jackson became a
popular culture icon during the 1980’s. He signed a
major marketing deal with Nike, starring in the com-
pany’s popular “Bo Knows” advertising campaign.
He was also an icon in the Nintendo video game
Tecmo Super Bowl.
Further Reading
Devaney, John.Bo Jackson: A Star for All Seasons. New
York: Walker, 1992.
Kramer, Jon.Bo Jackson. Austin, Tex.: Raintree Steck-
Vaughn, 1996.
Alvin K. Benson
See also African Americans; Baseball; Football;
Sports.Jackson, Jesse
Identification African American clergyman, civil
rights activist, and politician
Born October 8, 1941; Greenville, South CarolinaWhen Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988,
Americans were forced to consider a person of color as a seri-
ous candidate for that office.In November of 1983, the Reverend Jesse Jackson an-
nounced that he was seeking the Democratic Party’s
nomination for president of the United States. He
was forty-two years old. After the assassination of
Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968, Jackson had
emerged as a dynamic leader in the civil rights move-
ment. He had marched with King in the South and
in Chicago. In 1976, he had created an organization,
Push for Excellence (PUSH EXCEL), to reverse
teenage pregnancy, crime, and high school dropout
rates. He encouraged African Americans to strive for
educational excellence, to take greater responsibil-
ity for their communities, and to boycott businesses
guilty of racial discrimination. Although PUSH suf-
fered many setbacks when conservative Republican
Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, it contin-
ued to function during the 1980’s.The 1984 Presidential Campaign Jackson saw his
campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1984 as
a continuation of the Civil Rights movement. He
charged that Democrats had lost their focus and
were “spineless” in dealing with a Republican ad-
ministration that ignored the social and economic
needs of disadvantaged Americans. Many African
American leaders, including Coretta Scott King, were
skeptical about the timing of Jackson’s campaign.
They feared a white backlash at the polls. However,
Jackson had seen Republicans win by narrow mar-
gins in state after state and believed that, if Demo-
crats could combat the apathy among African Amer-
ican voters, they could win the election. African
American clergy encouraged his candidacy with the
slogan “Run, Jesse, Run,” and they worked to in-
crease African American voter registration. Jackson
excelled as an orator; he sought to give voice to the
concerns of Americans of all races who felt left outThe Eighties in America Jackson, Jesse 539