Which Angels players were drafted in the NFL?

Bo Jackson

The most famous example of a multi-sport athlete, other than perhaps Deion Sanders, is Bo Jackson. The two-sport star who became a marketing phenomenon with the slogan “Bo Knows” made his fame playing for the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Raiders. However, he was once drafted by the California Angels, and he finished his baseball career playing for the Halos in 1994.

Jackson was drafted by the Angels in 1985, but he decided to stay at Auburn University where he won the Heisman Trophy award the following Fall. The running back finished his Auburn career as one of the best players in SEC history.

The super-talented halfback was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 NFL Draft. He refused to play for the them after they misled him on a recruiting trip that led to an NCAA violation which caused him to miss the end of his final college baseball season. After spending a year playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals, he was eventually drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL Draft.

Jackson found his way to the Halos in 1994. He played 75 games for the team in the strike-shortened season, batting .279/.344/.507 with 13 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Over his entire baseball career, he appeared in one All-Star game and finished 10th in MVP voting during his best season as a major league hitter in 1989. Jackson’s baseball career was curtailed by a devastating hip injury that also ended his NFL career in 1991. He ended his baseball career when the 1994 strike cut short his season with the Halos.