Bo Jackson, The Last Folk Hero

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 November 2022

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the 80s and 90s, few sports stars loomed as large as Bo Jackson. A Kansas City Royal and an Oakland Raider, he was the rare athlete to play two professional sports. His strength and power seemed supernatural. He soared into end zones, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.13 seconds, hit meteoric home runs, and broke baseball bats over his head for fun. And those were just his documented exploits. Because Bo played in an era before smartphones, stories circulated — that could never be entirely proven or disproven — that he was capable of even more impressive feats. The guy was the stuff of legends. For this reason, Jeff Pearlman has entitled his new biography of Bo: The Last Folk Hero.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Burett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.2	In the 80s and 90s, few sport stars loomed as large as Bo Jackson.
0:15.0	A Kansas City Royal and an Oakland Raider, he was the rare athlete to play two professional
0:19.4	sports.
0:20.4	His strength and power seemed supernatural.
0:22.2	He soared into in-zones, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.13 seconds, hit meteoric home runs,
0:27.7	and broke baseball bats' over his head for fun.
0:30.3	And those were just his documented exploits.
0:32.5	Because Bo played in an era before smartphones, stories circulated that can never be entirely
0:36.7	proven or disproven, that he was capable of even more impressive feats.
0:40.9	The guy was the stuff of legends.
0:43.1	For this reason, Jeff Proleman has entitled his new biography of Bo, The Last Folk Hero.
0:47.7	To end the show, Jeff and I talk about Bo's Paul Bunyan S. Statcher and The Real Life
0:51.6	Behind The Legend.
0:52.9	We discuss both the flaws and strengths of Bo Jackson and how natural talent can be both
0:56.7	the hindrance and the help.
0:58.2	As we trace his life from an impoverished upbringing as one of 10 kids, to how he managed to secure
1:02.3	an arrangement where he got to play two professional sports.
1:04.9	Jeff explains how Bo never liked to practice, because he was so naturally gifted he didn't
1:08.6	need to.
1:09.6	Why Bo didn't take the deal when the Yankees tried to draft him out of high school?
1:12.8	The flashball moments he achieved in college in the pros, how a hip injury ended his football
	...

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