Bo Jackson being drafted by Raiders

[Gary Najman]

In 1984, CB Mossy Cade was drafted by the Chargers in the first round, but he jumped to the USFL, then when it folded he played with the Packers. Did his rights were traded or he became a free agent? Other players who went to the USFL after being drafted and played with another team after the USFL folded I remember were WR Anthony Carter (Dolphins, traded to the Vikings for LB Robin Sendlein), T Gary Zimmerman (Giants Supplemental Draft, traded to the Vikings) and QB Doug Flutie (Rams, traded to the Bears).

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

The Packers traded for Cade:

https://www.prosportstransactions.com/f ... mit=Search

[Brian wolf]

Didnt know about Flutie and the Rams. Would have been interesting his development, had he gotten the chance. Ellard might have emerged sooner at receiver.

[Gary Najman]

I found another similar case to Bo Jackson drafted in consecutive years. In 1985 the Cowboys drafted Texas A&M center Matt Darwin in the 5th round, but he didn’t reach an agreement with Dallas and sat out the whole season. The next year (1986) he was drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles, and after another holdout, Darwin played 5 seasons with Philadelphia.

[rhickok1109]

I found another similar case to Bo Jackson drafted in consecutive years. In 1985 the Cowboys drafted Texas A&M center Matt Darwin in the 5th round, but he didn’t reach an agreement with Dallas and sat out the whole season. The next year (1986) he was drafted in the 4th round by the Eagles, and after another holdout, Darwin played 5 seasons with Philadelphia.

Curly Lambeau obviously thought Stan Heath of Nevada-Reno would be the Packers' QB of the future because he drafted him in the 25th round in 1948 and in the 1st round in 1949. Heath lasted just one season with the Packers completing 26 of 106 passes with 1 TD and 14 INTs for a passer rating of 4.6.

[Bryan]

George Preston Marshall was so enamored with Cal Rossi of UCLA, he spent consecutive 1st round picks on Rossi, who ended up playing zero downs in the NFL.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Sports Illustrated posted this today, Jeff Pearlman's writing on Bo and the Buccaneers and his NCAA suspension. Pretty good reading:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/10/27/bo-ja ... gn_5395463

[ChrisBabcock]

Sports Illustrated posted this today, Jeff Pearlman's writing on Bo and the Buccaneers and his NCAA suspension. Pretty good reading:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/10/27/bo-ja ... gn_5395463

That... Was a very entertaining article.

[Brian wolf]

Culverhouse was foolish ... no wonder when Steve Young went to SF he was determined to never join another crappy franchise ...

[Lee Elder]

I was watching Bo Jackson highlights; the guy was spectacular. Long runs, 5.4 YPC, 70+ rushing yards per game. The Raiders usually had Marcus Allen carrying the ball near the goal line, so Bo only had 16 rushing TDs...but the average distance was 29 yards, which I assume is some type of record.

Anyways, Bo didn't want to play for the Bucs, played for the Royals instead...but does anyone remember the context of the Raiders drafting Bo Jackson in the 7th round? It seems like Al Davis pulled a fast one on the rest of the NFL. Did the other teams just assume Bo didn't want to play football? Or did they hold it against Bo that he was playing baseball and didn't draft him out of spite? It seems like the most logical team would have been the KC Chiefs drafting Bo, but it appears they had no interest.

It reminds me of when Russell Wilson was the QB at NC State...he was incredible, but the football coach didn't want him playing baseball and kicked him off the team. Wilson went to Wisconsin, who always was weak at the QB spot, and he became probably the best QB Wisconsin ever had. I thought that was the dumbest move in college football history by that NC State football coach.

Everyone assumed that Bo was not going to play football. He was pissed at the Bucs for ruining his final season of college baseball and people assumed he was pissed at the NFL in general.

The Raiders took him on a risk, but basically made a deal with him that he'd only be expected to play half a season of football. Bo was open to that and did it. I'm not sure there is a ton more to it, other than the Raiders simply agreeing to Bo's terms. The 30 for 30 "Bo Knows" might have some more details around that as well.

I covered the Raiders in those years for a small newspaper. The Raiders took a risk with the draft pick, but they had a reasonable degree of confidence that a deal could be made. I remember covering a game in Seattle during Jackson's NFL years. The Raiders won the game and Jackson was still a week or 10 days from playing football. Everyone in the organization was happy to have won the game, knowing that Jackson would soon be in uniform and would provide a boost.