Summary of Jeff Pearlman's The Last Folk Hero

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Jeff Pearlman's The Last Folk Hero in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat. He became the first person to simultaneously star in two major professional sports, and overtook Michael Jordan as America’s most recognizable pitchman. He was on our televisions, in our magazines, plastered across billboards. He was half man, half myth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798350064001

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Summary of Jeff Pearlman’s The Last Folk Hero

Contents

Overview

A Heroic Feat

Bo’s Beginnings

A Path Forward

Early Recognition

College Recruitment

Loyalty to Auburn

A Quick Rise to Fame

The Iron Bowl

Power Shift

Inspiration to Win

Ups and Downs in 1984

Return to Baseball

Road to the Heisman

Picking a Professional Career

Pro Baseball Debut

Back to Football

The Raiders

A Very Good Year

Tough Competition

Career-Ending Injury

Leaving the Royals

Hip Replacement

A Shift in Attitude

One Last Season

Retirement

About the Author

Overview

In The Last Folk Hero (2022), sportswriter Jeff Pearlman explores the extraordinary career and enigmatic persona of Bo Jackson, the iconic athlete who excelled in both pro football and baseball after starring at Auburn University, where he won the Heisman Trophy. Pearlman delves into Jackson’s upbringing, his college years, and his meteoric rise to fame, as well as the end of his pro sports career and its aftermath. Pearlman paints a nuanced portrait, showcasing both his good and bad sides.

A Heroic Feat

On the night of September 15, 1991, the Chicago White Sox boarded a Boeing 737-300 operated by America West Airlines. Mid-flight, an engine caught fire. The players were terrified, with some praying aloud and others reaching out to family members. Bo Jackson, the world’s greatest athlete at the time, emerged from the cockpit and reassured the passengers that the crew knew what they were doing. The plane made a safe emergency landing.

There is another version of the story in which Jackson, who was also a pilot, helped land the plane when it was on fire. This feat, however, cannot be proven. It was never caught on camera, much like many of Jackson’s other heroic actions, and it exists only in the memory of a select few. For this reason, Jackson is a folk