You think you know Bo, but you don't know... BoBo knows what it's like to be called one of the greatest athletes of all time. Vincent “Bo” Jackson had to overcome many difficulties as a child, he was the eighth of ten children his mother cared for. His family was very poor and not knowing his father very well didn't help the cause. Jackson overcame poverty by working hard, excelling in multiple sports and staying out of trouble. Jackson has worked very hard to reach his current position in life. He seemed to practice non-stop. In high school, college and the pros, Jackson worked to improve in baseball, football and track and field. He was able to work hard and become a star in all three cases. It helped that Jackson loved going to games—as a child he and other neighborhood kids played “stickball,” a form of baseball using a tree branch and a battered tennis ball. As a teenager he was constantly training or practicing in high school trying to get better (Jackson and Schaap 43). Jackson not only worked hard, but had a great work ethic throughout his career. He was the type of player who was the first on the field, even before the coaches, and the last to leave the field. Jackson was born with great athletic ability, but that can only go so far for an athlete. Jackson got the rest of his skills from his great work ethic. Every homerun, every touchdown he caught, and every track meet he won was earned through his hard work and dedication to the game. He wasn't the great athlete who could just show up and score two touchdowns or hit a home run (Jackson and Schaap 50). Jackson's coaches saw how hard he worked and the greatness he possessed because of it, and knew he could go far in sp... half of paper... half a second. If Jackson didn't change his outlook on life, if he didn't work hard at everything he did and excel at sports, who knows where he would be today. He may be sitting in a prison cell because he never changed his ways and has lost his temper, or he may still be living in a small house in a small town. Jackson decided he didn't want to do it and that he wanted his family to be free from a life full of poverty. Works Cited Benson, Alvin K. "Bo Jackson." The Eighties in America. Ed. Bermann Milton. 3 vols. Salem Press, 2008. History of Salem. Jackson, Bo and Dick Schaap. Bo Knows Bo: The Autobiography of a Baseball Player. New York: Doubleday, 1990. Print “Jackson, Bo.” Advanced World Book. World Book, 2014. Web. March 31, 2014.Ozanian, Mike. "Bo Jackson, entrepreneur." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, February 1, 14.Web. March 31st. 2014.