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A spirit that is not afraid

Bo knows best

The legend of Bo continues to grow.

After beginning with a bracket of 16 athletes representing a variety of professional sports from the past century, Jackson aced Roger Federer, knocked out Muhammad Ali, outscored Michael Jordan and ran over Jim Brown to take the title of 'Greatest Athlete of All Time.'

The contest was a collaboration between SportsCenter and ESPN Sport Science.

The victor of each match up was determined by ESPN sports "scientist" John Brenkus by comparing the measurables and accomplishments of each competitor.

"Jackson's speed qualified him for the U.S. Olympic Team for track and field, but he pursued football and baseball instead," Brenkus said in his case for Jackson on ESPN. "At the 1986 NFL combine, his time of 4.12 seconds in the 40 is still the fastest ever measured at any NFL combine -- and more than a tenth of a second faster than the modern combine record of 4.24 set by Titans running back Chris Johnson."

Jackson is also the only athlete to be named an All-Star in two professional sports -- baseball and football -- and won the Heisman Trophy in 1985.

In a follow-up poll done by ESPN's SportsNation, 30 percent of fans say that Jordan should have won.

Jackson has the second most votes with 24 percent.

While this title is in no way universal, and everybody is entitled to their opinions, Bo's selection as 'Greatest Athlete' with a comparatively short body of work speaks to what he was able to accomplish in the time that he had.

Other athletes included in the bracket were Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Tony Hawk, Pele, Jackie Robinson, Mark Allen, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Anderson Silva, Willie Mays and Dale Earnhardt Sr.


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