---
title: "Bo Jackson: The 1851 Exclusive Interview Part 6"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/d46aa26a-e93c-4dee-84a3-c82e5b11ba17
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/bo-jackson-the-1851-exclusive-interview-part-6-2708173
category: "General"
published: 2018-10-15T14:09:14.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:08:31.459Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/ef72895eaae44b8edbaebf45e87d01fa8072.jpg
---

# Bo Jackson: The 1851 Exclusive Interview Part 6

**TL;DR:** Bo Jackson discusses his business career and philosophy on achieving success in an exclusive interview with 1851 Franchise. He shares how he learned maturity through trial and error, and how he avoided pitfalls as a young celebrity athlete.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-10-15. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/bo-jackson-the-1851-exclusive-interview-part-6-2708173).*

## Story

*This is the sixth in a 10-part exclusive interview series with Bo Jackson, where the entrepreneur and legendary star athlete shares stories of his childhood, what motivates him in his business career, the nature of today’s younger generation, how he balances work, family and his spare time, his philosophy on achieving success and much more. Stay tuned for the seventh part of our series coming this Wednesday, October 17.*

Athletes who become celebrities — especially at a young age — often get blinded by the spotlight. In order to avoid the pitfalls that come with being a recognized “celebrity,” athletes need to have a certain level of maturity.

When 1851 Publisher Nick Powills asked Bo Jackson where his maturity came from, he replied, “I learned it on my own. Trial and error. Even when I was in college, I go out there on the field with my teammates and we would perform on Saturday, and 95 percent of the time we would win. My teammates that Saturday night, they want to go out and party. You come back to the football dorm, go to room 221, I’m in the dorm room.”

While Jackson wasn’t antisocial, he recognized that going out and making one dumb mistake — and being recognized in the process — would have detrimental effects.

“I learned this from the Sports Information Director. He said, ‘Bo, you can go out there on that field and you can run for 500 yards on Saturday, score eight touchdowns, and the news writers are going to write things to make it look like you are Superman. And if you go out and do something stupid, like trying to help your teammates in a fight, and you didn’t start it, you’re just trying to break it up, and the headline says ‘Bo Jackson in a Brawl,’ those same writers that were calling you Superman on Sunday are going to rip you to shreds on Monday,’” said Jackson.

To watch the full clip, check out the video above. You can also find the fifth part of 1851’s exclusive interview series here.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- General (sector)
- Nick Powills (person)
- business career (topic)
- athletes as celebrities (topic)
- maturity (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/bo-jackson-the-1851-exclusive-interview-part-6-2708173). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/d46aa26a-e93c-4dee-84a3-c82e5b11ba17).