This past weekend I watched the ESPN 30 on 30 film about Bo Jackson.  Bo’s career was cut short because of a hip injury and unless you were around during that time, you probably don’t remember how much of a stud Bo Jackson was.  The guy was an awesome athlete.  A complete mixture of size and speed and if he had played 10 years later, people would have claimed he was on steroids.

He won the Heisman trophy his senior year in college at Auburn.  He also played baseball at Auburn and in high school ran track setting the state high jump record at 6′ 8″.  He was the number one pick in the NFL draft by Tampa Bay and decided to play baseball after being drafted in the fourth round by the Kansas City Royals and not wanting to play for Tampa Bay.

He would play a full season of baseball and then go play in the NFL, with no training camp, no prep work or anything.  After watching this special, I wanted to put together a list of athletes who had their careers cut short for whatever reason and discuss what could have been.

  • Bo Jackson – The thing with Bo is his stats weren’t great throughout his 5-7 year career.  He had one all-star game and one pro bowl, but his athleticism was so apparent.  What if he had just stuck with baseball?  What if he had just chose football?  He was just starting to put together a pretty good baseball career.  His third full season in the majors, he was an all-star, hit 32 homers with 105 runs batted in, and stole 26 bases at 6′ 1″, 220 pounds.  In football, his yards per attempt was 5.4, better than Jim Brown and Barry Sanders.  What could he have done if he wasn’t playing football as a “hobby.”
  • Jim Brown and Barry Sanders – Both players retired at the age of 30 playing 9 and 10 seasons respectively.  Both retired because they wanted to go on their own accord and do other things.  Both were still studs when they retired.  What could their stats have been if they had kept going?  Barry Sanders might have the rushing title and could have gone 20,000 career yards.  I know both are all-time legends, but in an era where we look at numbers so much, they could have had some remarkable ones.
  • Magic Johnson and Larry Bird – What if Magic hadn’t gotten the HIV virus?  He still could have played at a high level for at least 5 more years.  The Lakers might have squeezed another title out, but we’ll never know.  If Larry Bird didn’t insist on paving his driveway himself, maybe he would have prolonged his back issues from bothering him.  It is incredible to see his stats knowing how much pain he was in, but what if that back injury was delayed a few years?  Could they have gotten another title and maybe Bird would have played productively a little longer.
  • Gale Sayers – Really he played 5 good years.  People that saw him play say with his speed, he might have been the best back of all time.  Nowadays, the knee injuries he had probably could have been fixed up and he would have been better than ever, but unfortunately he lived in a different time.  He could run, receive, and return punts and kicks.  One year, his yards per attempt was 6.2.  Potentially one of the best.
  • Mickey Mantle – I saw a special on him and this guy was fast.  He also was extremely powerful.  Unfortunately, injuries marred his career.  That and drinking.  He tore his knee up the end of his rookie season and went downhill from there.  Once again, with today’s medical advances, he would have been fixed up and probably been alright, but he was always addressing one injury or the other.  It’s incredible what his numbers were despite his injuries.  His last four years were awful, compared to his averages, and he finally had to hang it up at 36.  The injuries had finally taken their toll.  He might have had some of the top hitting numbers of all time.
  • Ted Williams –  Williams had 3 full years taken from him in his prime because of World War 2.  Plus, 2 other years during the Korean War where he barely played.  If you take his career seasonal averages, he ultimately could have been in the top 3 for every single hitting category we know.  An all-time great who served our country and in the end did nothing to diminish his baseball legacy, but you still wonder what could have been if you give him those years back.
  • Sandy Koufax – Koufax had a six year span that could rival any six year pitching span.  He was a stud.  He won 3 Cy Youngs and an MVP during that time.  What derailed him was elbow issues.  He was 30 when he retired.  Legend has it in the late 70’s when he was in his 40’s he was pitching batting practice to the Dodgers and they finally had to tell him to go easy because he was striking out all the hitters.  With today’s medical advances, he could have easily had another 8 productive good seasons.  Getting close to 300 wins and 4000 strikeouts.

This isn’t an all-encompassing list, so I would love to know who you would add to this list.  Feel free to post your favorites in the comments box and why.