Tag: Bo Jackson

How have teams with the No. 1 overall pick fared the next season?

How have teams with the No. 1 overall pick fared the next season?

NFL Draft: How did teams with the No. 1 overall pick do in their following season?

How have NFL teams done the year after they made the first selection in the NFL Draft?

The first pick in the NFL Draft guarantees a college star … and not much else. A look at how the teams did in the first season after they kicked off the selection process. Did they improve, falter, or run in place?

1967: Baltimore Colts: Bubba Smith

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL’s expansion team that would start play in 1967, the New Orleans Saints, swapped the No. 1 pick to Baltimore eight days before the draft. The Saints got backup quarterback Gary Cuozzo and Baltimore landed Michigan State defensive end Bubba Smith. The Colts had gone 9-5 in the 1966 season. They followed with an 11-1-2 mark in ’67, the only loss occurring in the final week of the regular season to the Los Angeles Rams.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13, Page 14, Page 15, Page 16, Page 17, Page 18, Page 19, Page 20, Page 21, Page 22, Page 23, Page 24, Page 25, Page 26, Page 27, Page 28, Page 29, Page 30, Page 31, Page 32, Page 33, Page 34, Page 35, Page 36, Page 37, Page 38, Page 39, Page 40, Page 41, Page 42, Page 43, Page 44, Page 45, Page 46, Page 47, Page 48, Page 49, Page 50, Page 51, Page 52, Page 53, Page 54, Page 55

Bo Jackson is easily the greatest video game athlete of all time

Bo Jackson was a Tecmo Bowl legend.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

With sports being out of the picture right now we’re all looking for ways to distract ourselves from the serious news that seems to get worse and worse each day.

We can still do that with sports, which we’re doing every day at For The Win.  All of my awesome colleagues are finding creative ways to create some pretty darn fun sports content even though sports aren’t happening… and they’re really good at it.

We’re also putting out some good content to help you find something to watch to get you through these days and nights because we’re here for you and we’re just like you, spending our nights finding the best movies on Netflix, or the best food shows on Netflix, or what’s on Amazon Prime, or on Hulu. We got it all covered.

On Thursday, my pal Mike Sykes listed the 33 best video game athletes to ever play in a… video game.

This list is a really fun trip down memory lane and it’s kicked off by Bo Jackson from the original Tecmo Bowl for the original Nintendo. While this list isn’t a ranking, it might as well be because Bo is the greatest video game athlete of all time.

And it’s not even close.

If you’re old like me chances are you spent hours playing Tecmo against either your friends or the “computer” and you know the Raiders were often the team you picked to play. Why? Because of Bo Jackson.

If you’ve never played Tecmo, let me explain why Bo was so good.

First of all, Tecmo was a simple game that gave you only four offensive plays to choose from. Most teams had two run plays and two pass plays. That was it. The defense had the same four offensive plays to choose from and if the defense picked the same play as the offense (which wasn’t hard to do!) the play would normally go for a loss of yards. It could also lead to fist fights and damning accusations of your friend cheating by peeking at your controller, which only added to the intensity of the game.

You had to be careful when you picked the Bo play, but it was also fun when the defense picked the Bo play because that’s when you saw how great Bo could be, as he’d often break free for some positive yards.

But if you picked the Bo play and the defense didn’t then chances are you were running Bo all over the field while taking it to the house. It didn’t matter if you were 99 yards from the end zone or 2 yards from the end zone – Bo was going to score. If you’ve never felt the joy of zig-zagging Bo through a defense before breaking free for a long TD then you haven’t lived!

Sometimes against the computer I’d pick the Raiders and down the ball at the 1-yard line on purpose just so I could see if I could break a 99-yarder with Bo. It was like a sweet drug that every kid who grew up with a Ninentedo in their room knows all to well. Chances are if that was you and you’re reading this right now you’re trying to think of a way you can play this game again just so you can break off a classic Bo run.

He. Was. So. Good.

The second best player on Tecmo, meanwhile, was Lawrence Taylor. The former Giants LB could fly around the field and he could block ever field goal and extra point ever taken. Like, he wouldn’t get one every now and then, he’d block EVERY SINGLE FIELD GOAL. So if you were playing the Giants you had to take that into account when scoring points and trying to win a game – because all kicks were out of play.

But yeah, this game was all about Vincent Bo Jackson. He was a legend in the NFL, in MLB, and Tecmo Bowl and now I need to find a way to break off a long TD run.

Quick hits: Brady’s sweet new pad… Stephen A.’s stay at home message… Best video games to play… And more!

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

– Tom Brady moved into a nice house in Tampa… a mansion that used to belong to Derek Jeter.

– Stephen A. Smith shared a great social distancing message.

– Here are the 28 best single-player video games to play while staying at home.

– Olympic swimmer Ryan Murphy told our Michelle Martinelli how he’s creatively training during COVID-19 outbreak.

– Tom Holland’s quarantine social media challenge looks incredibly hard.

– The hottest new thing in quarantine life is hosting a Netflix Party.

10 of the most notable NFL players who also played in the MLB

Since the 1920s, close to 70 athletes have played for both leagues. And, for various reasons, these are 10 of the most notable.

The MLB’s Opening Day ceremonies would have kicked off today, had the sports world not been suspended indefinitely without play due to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the greatest moments in sports, the first day of baseball always produces a wave of nostalgia for the players and fans, an ageless stretch from the young to the old.

The trashcan jokes alone would have made this year’s festivities memorable, but alas, there will be no crack of the bat, no soothing PA announcements, no flyovers, and no snark at the Astros’ expense. All that is left—other than the enjoyable reruns of yesteryear—is list of NFL players who also played in the MLB.

Some history: Both leagues have interwoven throughout the decades, beginning in the 1920s when several MLB players joined teams in the newly formed NFL. (Before the ’20s, star baseball players, like Christy Mathewson, played both but the NFL was not yet official.)

Since then, close to 70 athletes have played for the MLB and NFL. And, for a few interesting reasons, these are 10 of the most notable.

Let’s play ball!

Jim Thorpe

(Photo by National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB via Getty Images)

Thorpe was the original do-it-all athlete, which included gold medals and even pro basketball. He played major league baseball for the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Braves. During those years, Thorpe also played football. He began his career with the Canton Bulldogs, which was part of the inaugural 1920 NFL season, and then played for (and coached) a handful of teams after that. Surrounded by the fame of his heroics at the Olympics, Thorpe was a major draw for both sports, though football would turn out to be his more decorated. No other two-sport star has played for more NFL teams (six) than Thorpe.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10

Surprise! Auburn football fans are mad… again

Auburn football fans react to Bo Jackson being ranked behind Herschel Walker

Monday, ESPN named its Top 11 college football players of all time at the national championship game in New Orleans.

The rankings list originally started at 150, given it’s the 150th anniversary of the sport, but narrowed down to the best of the best in the end.

Georgia’s Herschel Walker was named the No. 2 player of all time, behind only Syracuse’s Jim Brown. Sure, one can agree that Brown had one of the best professional careers of all time, but many Bulldog fans were skeptical of him being ahead of Walker in the college football list.

If you thought Georgia fans were mad, boy do we have a treat for you. The little brother ‘cow college’ that is Auburn took saltiness to a new level last night. Sure, we’ll probably get a couple ‘1980’ or ‘win a natty’ jabs in the comments, but that’s typical from a fan of the WarTigerPlainsmen.

We get it, we need to win a natty. You’ve already told us 37 times this morning alone. Did you remember to eat breakfast and put on your shoes before heading out the door?

Take a look at some of these responses from Auburn fans on Twitter, who were livid Bo Jackson was ranked behind Walker in ESPN’s list. Get over it and focus on your Top 5 basketball team that we are 100% jealous of.

Hate to break it to you, but professional baseball stats don’t count for college football.

Ok, before we go here. Bo Jackson was one of the best to ever do it in college football and even as an athlete overall. We’re just having some fun here as you can see.