Good News To Start The Week: Bo Jackson

I remember when he was a big shot athlete and all the ‘Bo knows’ commercials, but this is better than any ad or athletic accomplishment.

It has been revealed that former sports superstar Bo Jackson  helped pay for the funerals of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the Uvalde school massacre in May. Jackson, whose rare success in both the NFL and Major League Baseball made him one of the greatest athletes of all time, said he felt compelled to support the victims' families after the loss of so many children:

"I don't know if it's because I'm getting old, [but] it's just not right for parents to bury their kids. It's just not right. I know every family there probably works their butts off just to do what they do. ... The last thing they needed was to shell out thousands of dollars for something that never should have happened."

Jackson felt a personal connection to Uvalde after it became a regular stop for him, for a bite to eat or the grab groceries, before driving further west to visit a friend's ranch.

It was that familiarity with Uvalde, and the people he'd met on those stops, that touched him deeply after hearing the news of the shooting, and three days after the attack, Jackson and a friend went to Uvalde, briefly met with Governor Greg Abbott and presented a check for $170,000 with an offer to pay for all funeral expenses. Jackson declined to name the friend who went with him and also contributed to the donation.

"Uvalde is a town that sticks in your mind. Just the name. I don't know a soul there. It just touched me."

Jackson said he followed news coverage of the funerals, but he declined to say if he has been in direct contact with any of the families.

"I don't want to turn this into anything [but] what it is. I was just trying [with the donation] to put a little sunshine in someone's cloud, a very dark cloud. [Still] the last thing you want to hear is there's an active shooter in your child's school. It's happening everywhere now. It's the children. ... It's the children. ... It's the children. If it doesn't bother you, something's wrong with you."

Bo knows compassion.

Of note:  Greg Abbott didn’t to attend a single funeral.