This 30 for 30...

WrapItDog

Senior
Aug 23, 2012
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Would recommend. Nailed the part about him playing before the PED era. Now days people would say no way he is doing this **** without taking something.
 

PBRME

All-Conference
Feb 12, 2004
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This was a great 30 for 30. Bo is probably the most gifted athlete we'll ever see.
 

Dawgzilla

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Mar 3, 2008
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Bo was a lot of fun to watch, but his stats are not very good (which is why they didn't post them).

I'm the same age as Bo. I watched his full college career, attended 10 football games he played in, and at least a dozen college baseball games. Like they said in the documentary, his legend was a bit like Paul Bunyan, but almost all of it was true. He did phenomenal things, and was unquestionably a "human highlight reel".

That said, he was not as good as players who dedicated themselves to a single sport. When the one writer in the documentary said that Bo was "Arguably the greatest college RB of all time", I literally LOL'ed. That would be a pretty lame argument. In his his Senior year, Bo came close to what Herschel was as a Freshman, but he wasn't even the best RB in SEC history, much less all of college football. As a baseball player, he struck out a lot. His batting average wasn't bad for a power hitter, but he wasn't exactly an MVP candidate.

I also didn't understand the pronouncement that he was "all natural". As opposed to what, exactly? Sure, Brian Bosworth was a steroid developed freak but most players were "all natural" back then. Were they saying that Bo didn't work out much? Neither did Herschel. Both players trained their bodies through playing other sports and staying active instead of slinging around weights. So what?

But I don't mean to be too negative. Bo was a lot of fun to watch in whatever sport he was involved in. You always had to wonder what he might have been if a) he had chosen 1 sport to specialize in; and/or b) he had not been injured.
 

Dawgzilla

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Mar 3, 2008
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Ask an Auburn fan to describe that play to you. It is hilarious. They will provide vivid detail of how Bo met Bosworth at the 5 yard line, and knocked him backwards so that he landed on his butt 5 yards deep in the endzone. Obviously, it was nowhere near that vicious -- but it was enjoyable.
 

greenbean.sixpack

All-American
Oct 6, 2012
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As far as being before the PED era, there was plenty of steroid usage in the early 80s. I played small time high school football and had teammates that used them. Of course, there was little or no testing back then, I would not be surprised if usage was as prevalent then as it was in the so called PED era.
 

Dawgzilla

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Mar 3, 2008
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I agree. His baseball career coincided with the birth of the steroid era, when Caneseco and McGwire were using, and when Caneseco allegedly introduced Palmeiro to them. There were plenty of college football players using them, including Bosworth. Lyle Alzado admitted to steroid use in 1991, and claimed he used them as far back as 1969.

But, I think the point was that, at the time Bo came along, people didn't just assume you were using steroids.
 

Bigdawg

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Aug 25, 2012
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On Bo and Recruiting

I read an article some years ago written by the Journalism major who was also the "Tiger Girl" or whatever assigned to Bo when he was recruited. It was written while Bo was at his peak in the pros.

She said she was told prior to escorting him around campus that he was number three on Auburn's running back board and that she was a little bummed about not getting a higher profile recruit.

Just another point about coaches evaluations and "stars."