AI
Thursday, April 22, 2004 5:56:57 PM
People said I looked like this guy lol
The Boz Was a Bust
Brian Bosworth Was One the NFL's Great Self-Promoters
By Sal Maiorana, AOL Exclusive
Last fall when Brian Bosworth's 5-year-old son appeared with him in the TBS television studio while Bosworth was performing his job as the cable station's college football analyst, young Max did so wearing a Bo Jackson No. 34 throwback jersey.
It was hard to ignore the irony.
Chronic shoulder injuries ultimately doomed Bosworth's famously disappointing career with the Seattle Seahawks in 1989 after just three seasons, but it was an encounter with Jackson that provided the tell-tale evidence that even had he not encountered health problems, The Boz probably didn't have much of a shelf life in the NFL.
In 1987, Bosworth's Seahawks and Jackson's Raiders met in a Monday night game at the Kingdome. The hype was huge and much of it centered on the meeting between the two highly-publicized rookies, Bosworth and Jackson.
Jackson rushed for 221 yards and scored three touchdowns as Los Angeles won easily. One of the touchdowns was a 91-yarder where he outran the entire Seattle defense, including Bosworth, and another came on a two-yard run where Jackson and Bosworth went one-on-one near the goal line, and Jackson ran right over the overmatched Boz.
"A lot of people out there want to see us two athletes fall on our faces," the always modest Jackson said that night of he and Bosworth. "And we'd just like to prove 'em all wrong, that's all. Boz and I, we think alike. We are determined to come out on top in whatever we do."
Jackson usually did. Bosworth certainly did not. That humbling at the hands of Jackson was the first sign that Bosworth wasn't nearly the player the Seahawks thought he was when they chose him in the 1987 supplemental draft and agreed to pay him the exorbitant sum of $11 million.
One of the great self-promoters in NFL history, Bosworth proved to be more of a World Wrestling Federation character than a football player. His loud mouth, punky mullet haircut, bursting muscles and all that money - which was unheard of for a linebacker at that time - surely made him an intriguing figure. What it didn't make him was a productive player. He played just 24 NFL games with four sacks and three fumble recoveries.
As soon as his football career ended, he took up acting, and while he has appeared in 10 films since 1992, none have been box office winners. His latest gig is working for TBS, finally a job he seems well-suited for because he does offer insight and opinion on the college game which he far prefers to the NFL version.
The Boz lives in Malibu, Calif. with his wife and three children and he does so quietly, far removed from his days as the wild-man linebacker. To those who know him intimately, his lifestyle should not be a surprise because his portrayal of The Boz was exactly that - a portrayal, a marketing ploy to exact riches. Deep down he insists he's a homebody.
"Aside from TBS for college football, I'm just being a dad and hanging out with my family," said Bosworth. "I lead an introverted and boring life here in California. I've always been the same kind of guy away from the field of play. I've never been one of those crazy guys. It's just that people have an impression that The Boz lives 24-7. Once the game was over, Mr. Hyde was gone and Dr. Jekyll came out."
04-07-04 16:17 EDT
The Boz Was a Bust
Brian Bosworth Was One the NFL's Great Self-Promoters
By Sal Maiorana, AOL Exclusive
Last fall when Brian Bosworth's 5-year-old son appeared with him in the TBS television studio while Bosworth was performing his job as the cable station's college football analyst, young Max did so wearing a Bo Jackson No. 34 throwback jersey.
It was hard to ignore the irony.
Chronic shoulder injuries ultimately doomed Bosworth's famously disappointing career with the Seattle Seahawks in 1989 after just three seasons, but it was an encounter with Jackson that provided the tell-tale evidence that even had he not encountered health problems, The Boz probably didn't have much of a shelf life in the NFL.
In 1987, Bosworth's Seahawks and Jackson's Raiders met in a Monday night game at the Kingdome. The hype was huge and much of it centered on the meeting between the two highly-publicized rookies, Bosworth and Jackson.
Jackson rushed for 221 yards and scored three touchdowns as Los Angeles won easily. One of the touchdowns was a 91-yarder where he outran the entire Seattle defense, including Bosworth, and another came on a two-yard run where Jackson and Bosworth went one-on-one near the goal line, and Jackson ran right over the overmatched Boz.
"A lot of people out there want to see us two athletes fall on our faces," the always modest Jackson said that night of he and Bosworth. "And we'd just like to prove 'em all wrong, that's all. Boz and I, we think alike. We are determined to come out on top in whatever we do."
Jackson usually did. Bosworth certainly did not. That humbling at the hands of Jackson was the first sign that Bosworth wasn't nearly the player the Seahawks thought he was when they chose him in the 1987 supplemental draft and agreed to pay him the exorbitant sum of $11 million.
One of the great self-promoters in NFL history, Bosworth proved to be more of a World Wrestling Federation character than a football player. His loud mouth, punky mullet haircut, bursting muscles and all that money - which was unheard of for a linebacker at that time - surely made him an intriguing figure. What it didn't make him was a productive player. He played just 24 NFL games with four sacks and three fumble recoveries.
As soon as his football career ended, he took up acting, and while he has appeared in 10 films since 1992, none have been box office winners. His latest gig is working for TBS, finally a job he seems well-suited for because he does offer insight and opinion on the college game which he far prefers to the NFL version.
The Boz lives in Malibu, Calif. with his wife and three children and he does so quietly, far removed from his days as the wild-man linebacker. To those who know him intimately, his lifestyle should not be a surprise because his portrayal of The Boz was exactly that - a portrayal, a marketing ploy to exact riches. Deep down he insists he's a homebody.
"Aside from TBS for college football, I'm just being a dad and hanging out with my family," said Bosworth. "I lead an introverted and boring life here in California. I've always been the same kind of guy away from the field of play. I've never been one of those crazy guys. It's just that people have an impression that The Boz lives 24-7. Once the game was over, Mr. Hyde was gone and Dr. Jekyll came out."
04-07-04 16:17 EDT
If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it?
-Stephen King
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