I used to play in the Roger Craig Celebrity Golf Tournament in the Quad Cities. It was a great event. I played with Dan Hampton(tons of fun,hands and knees absolutely ruined, but a riot to party with), Ray Guy(super guy, what a athlete, great golfer, and so much stronger than you can imagine. Also plays only position(punter) not in the NFL Hall of Fame) and Joe Thiesman all on different years. Bo was there one year and he must of been having a bad weekend. My buddy played with him and he was not cordial at all to anyone. A old women came to the autograph session who had played actual pro baseball(like the movie-was it Major League). Anyway she wanted him to sign her actual card and get another autograph from him. She explained that he was her favorite athlete. He said 1 autograph per person and that was it. Like I said he may have been having a bad weekend like we have all had at times, but he certainly wasn't received very well at the event. When I left town the next day I was listening to 2 radio guys who worked the event[Dweyer and Michaels(sp)]. They were relating similar stories and were calling him Bo Jacka--.
No doubt one of greatest athletes ever, but he certainly wasnt a first class guy that weekend. Glad to hear other positive stories about him.
I'm one of the guys who has been fortunate enough to take Bo hunting the two seasons he has received the Governors tags for deer hunting in Iowa. One year, he did a number of different articles and tv interview for the DNR, speaking mostly about deer management (the year he shot the doe).
The second year he shot a very large buck in Iowa City and then spoke to a large group of troubled youth in Iowa City. It was the single most amazing speech I've ever heard and it definitely had an impact on those young boys.
I will say that it isn't always easy being Bo. We had a hard time even going out to eat, as he is just pestered constantly by people wanting his autograph, picture, etc. It's non-stop. Seems really cool at first, until you realize that's every day of his life, so I can see how he might have been short at the event. Even today, the man can't go anywhere without being noticed.
I think that's one of the reasons he likes hunting as much as he does. It gives him a few hours away from it all. I can say he's a real hunter...fletches his own arrows, shoots his bow almost daily, drags his own deer, guts his own deer, etc.
Overall, he's a good guy....doesn't try to impress anyone and frankly, he could care less about any of his past accomplishments, including the Heisman. I always give him a hard time about how he "stole the Heisman from Long and that he should have brought it back to Iowa City when he was coming to hunt". He uses the trophy now to prop open his office door in his home....that's just who Bo is and he truly doesn't care what anyone thinks of him.
Perfect example, he was asked by ESPN to be at the Monday Night Football game for the anniversary of the game where he ran over Bosworth. He told them he didn't want to attend, because he would be hunting in Iowa. He just doesn't want the attention.
He's very proud of the fact he's never been in trouble, given countless hours and dollars to help underprivileged kids and he's not a fan of the way pro athletes handle themselves today.
