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Question to all regarding the Bosworth-Bo Jackson play of 27 years ago....

CTOkie

Sooner starter
Sep 20, 2001
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Everyone talks about how Bosworth got run over....which he did.
My question is, what other linebacker would have successfully stopped Bo's momentum on that play ? I believe Bo would have done the same to any linebacker, given the same angle and same momentum of both Bosworth and Jackson.
If I'm wrong in believing this, no problem.....after all, Bo Jackson was one of the greatest running backs ever. I just think Bosworth gets too much negativity on this. I see it as a great run by Jackson rather than a bad tackle by Bosworth.
 
Although most of these guys would get run over as well, I think the following guys would have had a decent chance of going head-to-head with Jackson on that play:
Dick Butkus
Mike Curtis
Willie Lanier
Ray Lewis
Mike Singletary
Jack Lambert
 
Although most of these guys would get run over as well, I think the following guys would have had a decent chance of going head-to-head with Jackson on that play:
Dick Butkus
Mike Curtis
Willie Lanier
Ray Lewis
Mike Singletary
Jack Lambert
....and maybe Lawrence Taylor.

I heard recently that Bosworth boasted before that game that he would contain Jackson. Maybe that's why the boys at ESPN get so wet and runny about showing this play so often.....the same network that glorifies and promotes "hot dog" behavior.
 
Boz loved to yap his jaws. He was flamboyant by design. When he flopped, he was an easy target of critque.
 
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I think that play was and continues to be massively overrated. It gets the airtime it does since Boz loved to run his mouth and Bo beat him one on one when it mattered at the goal line. Not sure if any LB ever could have stopped Bo on the play given the angle he had on Boz. It's not like he ran clean over Boz like many try to make it out to be.
 
The idea that Jackson ran "over" Bosworth is a myth. If the two players aren't squared up, then it's impossible for one to run over the other. Bo got Bosworth's outside shoulder. Any good running back should have scored against any linebacker with that angle and proximity to the goal line. That one play may be the best example of media hype in the history of sports. And it still has legs today.

By the way, I like Bo a hell of a lot better than Bosworth... but the truth is the truth.
 
Bad angle on a good back, but it's not like Bo didn't get tackled. Bo was a favorite and Boz was who everyone liked to hate. Big deal made out of nothing, but that's what makes the masses happy and becomes the myth.
 
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The Boz wasn't great at knocking back good running backs, much less Bo Jackson. He wasn't that big a guy. He didn't have a good angle. Of those listed above, I don't agree that Lambert or Curtis would have knocked him back. Butkus or Lanier or Ray Lewis. That would have been very interesting. I doubt he'd have gotten to Singletary. Running the sweep on that Bear defense with Wilbur Marshall and Richard Dent and a couple of other bad ass edge players, Bo wouldn't have had the chance to build his momentum.

By then, Brian's shoulder wasn't healthy.
 
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I saw an interview by Reggie White once where he stated that play was one of the most overrated plays in the NFL at that time. He said Boz was off balance and got caught with a hit that looked much worse than it was. He said Boz was a solid player. I had the opportunity to attend OU coaching clinics in the mid 80s. One of the coaches pointed out that Boz had small bone structure for a guy with his muscular size. If I recall be wore a size 6 shoe or something small.
 
I saw an interview by Reggie White once where he stated that play was one of the most overrated plays in the NFL at that time. He said Boz was off balance and got caught with a hit that looked much worse than it was. He said Boz was a solid player. I had the opportunity to attend OU coaching clinics in the mid 80s. One of the coaches pointed out that Boz had small bone structure for a guy with his muscular size. If I recall be wore a size 6 shoe or something small.

Interesting because the guy works out at my gym in south Austin and I see him all the time. I was surprised that he wasn't bigger. When he first started he wore those strange agua man shoes that are more like a fitted glove. His feet do seem small for his size. 2 years ago a friend of mine said he would go to their tailgate party at some of the Longhorn home games. Said he was a nice guy and once told him he had a lot of regrets playing at OU but that he was young then. Friend asked him if Burnt Orange still made him puke and said no, only that one Saturday. Another friend told me that he was at a charity event for Earl last year and mentioned that he was surprised how nice people have treated him in Austin.
 
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