Bo Jackson Latest Heisman Winner Inducted Into Cotton Bowl Hall Of Fame

Bo Jackson knows football, baseball, Heisman Trophies, Nike, and a host of other things. 

He’s also a bit of an expert on Halls of Fame and was inducted into his latest one last week in Dallas, immortalized in the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.

Jackson, already a member of the College Football and Kansas City Royals Halls of Fame, took his place in the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame on May 23, becoming the fifth Heisman Trophy winner included in the venerable bowl game’s exclusive club. 

Doak Walker was the first Heisman Trophy selected to the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in the inaugural 1998 class. He was followed by Roger Staubach (2000), Ernie Davis (2001) and Ricky Williams (2018) ahead of Jackson’s inclusion.

Jackson, college football’s 50th Heisman Trophy winner celebrating the 40th anniversary of his trophy this season, led Auburn into the 50th edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic following his Heisman win.

Although the Tigers lost to Texas A&M, Jackson had a huge game. He set a Cotton Bowl record with 31 rushing attempts while rushing for 129 yards, including a 5-yard scoring run to start the game’s scoring. Jackson, the game’s Offensive MVP, then turned a second-quarter screen pass into a spectacular 73-yard scoring jaunt, his only scoring reception of the season. The 129 rushing yards also marked his ninth game of triple-digit rushing.

Walker was a natural for the Cotton Bowl’s first class. A Dallas native who starred at SMU, Walker was a two-time Cotton Bowl MVP who excelled on both sides of the ball and as a kicker. He accounted for two touchdowns for the Mustangs against Penn State in the 1948 Cotton Bowl, one a 53-yard scoring strike and the other a 2-yard scoring run in a 13-13 tie. A year later, Walker helped SMU defeat Oregon, 21-13. He scored on a 1-yard run ands also crushed a punt for 79 yards.

Staubach, the freshly minted Heisman-winning QB, led the Midshipmen down to Dallas in 1964 as No. 2 Navy took on No. 1 Texas. The Longhorns won the game 28-6 on a cold Dallas morning, but Staubach stood tall for Navy, completing 21 passes for 228 yards while scoring its only touchdown, a late fourth-quarter rushing score. A handful of years later, Staubach would call the city his home while becoming a legend for the Dallas Cowboys.

Two years before he won the Heisman, Davis led Syracuse to a 23-14 win over Texas in the 1960 Cotton Bowl that capped a perfect national championship-winning season. He scored on an 87-yard touchdown pass on the game’s second play, the longest TD pass in the game’s history. Davis scored again on a 1-yard run, and followed with a 2-point conversion play. In the second half, he set up the Orangemen’s final touchdown with an interception and secured another two-point conversion.

The 1999 Cotton Bowl was the final game of Williams’ illustrious career, a month after he won the 1998 Heisman. Williams had a huge game in Texas’ 38-11 win over Mississippi State, rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns, including a 37-yard scoring sprint early in the third quarter, which he capped off with a Heisman pose in the end zone. He also caught five passes for 45 yards, helping Texas secure its first New Year’s Day bowl victory in 17 years.