Legendary Auburn running back and two-sport athlete Bo Jackson will undergo a procedure later this week to stop the chronic hiccups he's been experiencing since July of 2022. Appearing on "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" on WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson disclosed the medical phenomenon while explaining his absence from a Frank Thomas statue dedication held in April as part of Auburn's A-Day spring game festivities.
"I wasn't [at the ceremony] because of dealing with hiccups," Jackson said. "I've had the hiccups since last July. I'm getting a medical procedure done the end of this week, I think, to try to remedy it. I've been busy sitting at the doctor's poking me, shining lights down my throat, probing me every way they can to find out why I've got these hiccups. That's the only reason I wasn't there."
Jackson, 60, said doctors have been unable to diagnose a clear cause for the condition, adding that traditional remedies to end the hiccups have failed. And Jackson said he has gone to some extreme lengths to try to end the 10-month-long phenomenon.
"I have done everything: scare me, hang upside down, drink water, smell the ass of a porcupine," Jackson added. "It doesn't work."
Jackson played football at Auburn from 1982-85, where he amassed 4,303 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns en route to twice being named a consensus All-American. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy during his senior season in 1985 after rushing for 1,786 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Jackson was also a member of the Auburn baseball team from 1983-86, though he missed the 1984 campaign due to injury. Jackson was also limited in 1986 after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA following a visit to NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of that year's NFL Draft. Still, Jackson posted a career .338 batting average across 90 games played at Auburn.
Tampa Bay selected Jackson No. 1 overall in the 1986 NFL Draft, but Jackson did not sign with the franchise, a decision stemming from the visit that interfered with his baseball eligibility at Auburn that same year. Jackson took up professional baseball when the Kansas City Royals selected him in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB Draft, and he added professional football to his plate in 1987 upon signing with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Jackson notably suffered a hip injury in early 1991 during an NFL Playoff game that shortened his athletic career. Jackson did not return to the NFL the following season, and his professional baseball career concluded at age 32 after the strike-shortened 1994 MLB season. He had stints with the Chicago White Sox (1991-93) and California Angels (1994) after starting with the Royals.
