Twenty-five years ago Wednesday, a seemingly invincible athlete of mythical proportion was felled by an unthinkable injury.
Bo Jackson, the supremely strong and swift Los Angeles Raiders running back, suffered a severe hip injury while playing in an AFC divisional playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 13, 1991. The injury was later complicated by a condition called avascular necrosis, which impedes blood flow and destroys bone cells and cartilage. Although Jackson didn't know it at the time, his football career was over at age 28.
Jackson had previously won the 1985 Heisman Trophy at Auburn and starred as an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals.