Deion Sanders And Bo Jackson Played A Major Role In Getting Michael Jordan To Minor League Baseball

Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson are certainly one of the greatest athletes of all time. After all, it’s not easy to accomplish so much in two different arenas, like football and baseball. The two veteran NFL players were so influential in their approach that they even lured in the NBA GOAT Michael Jordan to do the same. 

Michael Jordan briefly parted ways with NBA as the best basketball player in the world to try his hands on baseball. He looked up to Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson for inspiration, who had done the same. 

Michael Jordan was influenced by Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson to play baseball

Sanders and Jackson, both had successful NFL and MLB careers, which even tempted the basketball phenomenon to dip his toes. Although Jordan did attempt to try out his luck in the Minor League Baseball, his athleticism did not prove to be as fruitful as the NFL superstars’. He went back to NBA after just one year in the baseball arena to win three more championships with the Bulls. 

“Well, I got this whole idea from Bo, from Deion, the guys who made that transition to play two sports,” Jordan said. “I always wanted to play baseball, and I kicked myself for not playing in college when I had an opportunity to play in college. I was just hoping I’d get that opportunity again, and I have.”

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“They gave me the motivation to at least try it,” he added. “I’ve seen the hard work that Bo’s gone through with his hip (injury) and successful achievement that he’s gotten overcoming that hip (injury). I worked with Herm (Schneider, White Sox trainer), who really worked with Bo, and he’s really gotten me into tip-top shape to at least try it and learn. So I feel like I’m right on schedule with that, physically.”

NBA GOAT MJ did not accomplish what the NFL beasts did 

Jackson’s MLB career stretched from 1986 to 1994. He also played for the Los Angeles Raiders for four seasons (1987-1990) during that time. Jackson made the All-Star game during his time with Kansas City Royals (1989) in the MLB. He also made the Pro Bowl next year (1990) with the Raiders in the NFL.

Jordan is though, the greatest basketball player of all time, he could not achieve success in two arenas as Jackson and Sanders did. 

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