Bo Jackson is hoping for a remedy to a fairly common health issue that has lasted for an uncommonly long time.
The former two-sport legend said he will undergo a procedure later week to stop the chronic hiccups he’s been dealing with since July 2022.
Jackson, 60, disclosed his medical issue during an appearance on the “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” show on radio station WJOX-FM in Birmingham, Ala.
Jackson was asked about the statue dedication for former MLB and fellow Auburn star Frank Thomas. Jackson revealed the reason why he wasn’t able to attend the ceremony.
“I wasn’t there because of dealing with hiccups,” Jackson said during an interview on Wednesday. “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 said doctors haven’t determined the cause of the chronic hiccups. Jackson added that traditional remedies haven’t worked and he has resorted to some rather extreme measures.
“I have done everything — scare me, hang upside down, drink water, smell the ass of a porcupine,” Jackson said during the interview. “It doesn’t work.”
Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and he was also a standout baseball player for the Tigers.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers used the No. 1 overall pick to select Jackson in the 1986 NFL draft. Jackson didn’t sign with the Buccaneers and opted to sign with MLB’s Kansas City Royals, who selected him in the fourth-round of 1986 amateur draft. He spent nine seasons in MLB, playing for the Royals, Chicago White Sox and California Angels. He was selected to the All-Star Game in 1989.
Jackson signed with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1987 and played four seasons with the Raiders, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 1990. A hip injury forced him to retire from football in 1991 and he retired from baseball in 1994.
