Bo Jackson Shares Biggest Difference in Today's NFL Compared to When He Played

Legend of the past weighs in on current game.

Bo Jackson was a guest on 'First Take' on Thursday. | First Take on X

Bo Jackson was one of the most electric players to ever put on a football uniform. And baseball uniform, for that matter. An impossible combination of speed, agility and power, Jackson burned incredibly bright during an NFL career cut short by injury. He could do pretty much anything on any sporting field, but one thing that he rarely did was celebrate demonstrably. Which made him fit in with his era of ball. Today he'd be remarkably stoic compared to the average NFLer.

Jackson spoke about how things have changed on Thursday's First Take, where he was prompted to pinpoint the biggest difference in today's NFL.

"Back in the day we didn't celebrate until the last second ticked off the clock," Jackson said. "There's too much ... I know that it's a different era, it's a different game."

"I'm like you're getting up celebrating, and you made a tackle. That's your job."

Bo Jackson shares his thoughts on the biggest difference in the NFL today. pic.twitter.com/LlTJb5mwLJ

— First Take (@FirstTake) February 5, 2026

"But too much celebrating while the game's going on," he continued. "You're getting up celebrating and you made a tackle. That's your job."

Jackson then mentioned a former coach who told him that all of that energy used celebrating should instead be saved for the next play.

Now, a lot of people may not like the get-off-my-lawn nature of these comments. But to be fair, Jackson was asked and answered. People who never saw Jackson and his contemporaries play really can't comprehend just how much celebration has made its way into the game. Which is totally fine because the NFL is an entertainment product and sports are supposed to be fun.

Yet if anyone had cause to go all-out punctuating the moment for 60 minutes, it was Bo. Or Barry Sanders, who went his entire professional career without celebrating.

At the end of the day, Jackson's operative word was "different." Not better or worse than it used to be, just nowhere near the same.

---