Bo Jackson's Real Name: Vincent Edward Jackson

Quick answer: The athlete is known professionally as Bo Jackson. Britannica lists him as also known as Vincent Edward Jackson and places the birth on November 30, 1962, in Bessemer, Alabama. A Society for American Baseball Research biography independently gives the same fuller name, date, and place.

Real name and early life

Britannica and SABR both identify him as Vincent Edward Jackson, born November 30, 1962, in Bessemer, Alabama. SABR says his mother, Florence Jackson Bond, named him after Vince Edwards, the star of the television show Ben Casey, and that the nickname Bo followed from a family shortening of an earlier nickname. Both accounts say the New York Yankees drafted him out of high school, but he attended Auburn University instead. Britannica says he won the 1985 Heisman Trophy after rushing for 1,786 yards and 17 touchdowns; SABR independently credits him with the same Heisman and the same 1,786-yard senior season.

Career highlights

Britannica says he was selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 NFL draft but signed instead with the Kansas City Royals, who took him in the fourth round of that year's major-league draft, and that he made his Royals debut in 1986. SABR independently records the Royals' fourth-round selection after he declined the Buccaneers. Britannica says the Los Angeles Raiders selected him in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL draft. An MLB.com report on his June 29, 2024, induction into the Royals Hall of Fame says he played parts of eight major-league seasons and four in the NFL, and is still the only athlete to make the All-Star Game in both leagues. The same article says 1989 was his best year, with an All-Star selection after 32 home runs, 105 runs batted in, and 26 stolen bases, and that his first major-league hit came off Steve Carlton. Britannica independently gives the same 1989 All-Star totals of 32 home runs and 105 runs batted in, and says he earned 1990 Pro Bowl honors after rushing for 698 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. It also says a hip injury in a January 1991 Raiders playoff game ended his NFL career, after which he played partial seasons with the Chicago White Sox (1991, 1993) and the California Angels (1994).

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Bo Jackson or Vincent Edward Jackson are looking for the same athlete, including the later Royals seasons most often associated with his name.