Bo Knows Bo: Bo Jackson Turns 50 Years Old, Smashes Old Age Over His Knee
Today Bo Jackson turns 50 years old. 
The former baseball and football star was one of the most exciting players to watch in the late '80s and early '90s.
Dem legs, you guys.
And he knew how to sell shoes.
He did double duty with the then Los Angeles Raiders and the Kansas City Royals, had his own Nike commercials, co-authored his autobiography (1990's Bo Knows Bo) with late sportswriter Dick Schaap and even had a cartoon.
ProStars, running over 13 episodes in the fall of 1991, featured Jackson, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky teaching kids good sportsmanship and the importance of fighting crime with bats and hockey sticks.
I remember praying in Sunday school that the Astros and the Oilers would sign him to contracts so I could watch him all year round.
Sadly, a hip injury in 1991 against the Cincinnati Bengals shut his football career down. Sports lore states that he snapped his hip back into place.
A Nike commercial with Denis Leary narrating Jackson's rehab soon followed. He continued playing baseball after the surgery. There was a brief dalliance with semi-pro basketball somewhere in there too.
He bounced from the Royals to the Chicago White Sox, before moving to the California Angels in 1994 to play 75 games in the abbreviated, strike-damaged season.
He randomly started a short acting career as he eased into retirement, with a bit part in 1996's John Grisham film adaptation The Chamber.
Since he left sports, his life has been reasonably quiet. He has excelled in business and finance, does plenty of charity work, and still makes the odd commercial and personal appearance.
And December 8, he gets his own episode of ESPN's 30 For 30 series, the official stamp of cool.
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