Bo vs Deion

     I have always been a big fan of ESPN's series 30 for 30 and about a month ago came "You Don't Know Bo".  It discussed the career of Bo Jackson from college at Auburn, to the NFL, MLB, and his "Bo Knows" marketing campaign with Nike.  My excitement for it mostly stemmed from being too young to actually remember watching him play but remembering how unstoppable he was in Tecmo Bowl.  While watching I'm thinking Bo Jackson has to be the greatest athlete ever.  To be able to play two sports professionally at a high level is something unheard of, not even the Michael Jordan could do it.  However, Deion Sanders could.  Over the holiday I found myself in a debate, who is the better two sport athlete, Bo or Deion?
     Most professional athletes play multiple sports growing up but by the time they hit college they chose one and go with it.  These guys were able to play in the NFL and MLB.  But while Deion was able to have full careers in both sports, Bo suffered a serious hip injury when he was 28.  He was able to come back to play two more years of baseball but it pretty much ended his career.  So it is difficult to fully compare the two athletes but the question needs to be answered.
     Let's take a look at football first.  Deion Sanders is arguably the best cover corner the NFL has ever seen and because of that he was selected to 8 Pro-Bowls and inducted into the Hall of Fame.  He had 53 career interceptions with nine touchdowns and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1994.  Sanders was also a threat in the return game totaling nine touchdowns on kick/punt returns.  There wasn't much Deion couldn't do with his speed, quickness and ball hawking ability in 13 years in the NFL.  Bo Jackson on the other hand could only manage four abbreviated seasons in the NFL before his injury.  But in those four years he made a name for himself and left us wanting more.  Bo elected to commit fully to baseball before switching to football so he never played more than 11 games in a season.  However, he averaged 5.4 yards a carry for his career (Barry Sanders averaged 5.0) and in his first season he had 6.8 ypc.  Once Bo arrived to the Los Angeles Raiders after baseball the team moved him ahead of Hall of Famer Marcus Allen as the lead running back and in his best year he averaged 86.4 yards a game in a split backfield.  In three of his four seasons, Jackson had runs of 88, 91, and 92 yards.  Bo Jackson was a ridiculous combination of strength and speed that was unrivaled at the time.
     In baseball, Bo was able to play eight years but only four as a full-time starter before his injury.  He was selected to the All-Star game in 1989 and was also named the MVP of that game.  Jackson displayed he power and speed in baseball hitting over 20 homeruns and stealing 20 bases in two seasons including 32 HR's and 26 SB's in 1989.  For his career he only hit .250 and was always among the league leaders in strikeouts.  Bo could play defense too as he lead the AL in two years in assists by a left-fielder.  On the diamond, Deion was not as dominant as he was on the gridiron.  He was only a full-time starter for one season with the Cincinnati Reds in 1997 but during that year he was 2nd in the NL in steals with 56.  He also lead the NL in triples in 1992.  Sanders hit .263 for his career but that is skewed by three very poor seasons (.234, .158, .191) to start his career.  However, he did hit .533 in the 1992 World Series while the next best on the team was .296.
     It's really hard to argue against either athlete but I have to give my vote to Bo Jackson.  Even though we never saw his full potential in either sport you can't deny the impact that he made in such a short span.  Bo didn't have the career in the NFL that Deion did, but Sanders was just an average baseball player whereas Jackson was an elite player in both sports.  The thing I admire most about Bo Jackson though is not not his athletic ability, it's his character.  He was drafted #1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1986 but because he felt they ruined his Senior year in college because of shady dealings he turned them down and decided to play baseball.  If it wasn't for that we might not have ever seen Bo Jackson as a two sport athlete.