Brett Favre names dual-sport legend as 'greatest athlete he's seen' (and it's not Deion Sanders)
Brett Favre has named a dual-sport legend as the greatest athlete he has seen and it is not Deion Sanders. The former Packers quarterback said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Bo Jackson holds that honor. The former Raiders running back played in the NFL and MLB simultaneously, winning All-Star and Pro Bowl gongs in 1989 and 1990, respectively. He is the only one ever to get nominated among the best players in two different professional sports leagues.
Brett Favre replied to a thread of comments where an original poster initially named him as among the greatest quarterbacks to ever play college football for the current SBC teams. To which, another user replied that Reggie Collier is the greatest quarterback to play for the University of Southern Mississippi, Brett Favre's alma mater. The Hall-of-Famer then responded to that agreeing with that sentiment and calling him the second-greatest athlete of all time.
The first, he mentioned, was Bo Jackson, writing,
"I agree!! The 2nd greatest athlete I have ever seen. Bo Jackson is 1st!!"
Comparing Brett Favre's college record with Reggie Collier
Brett Favre agreed with the statement that Reggie Collier is the greatest University of Southern Mississippi quarterback. It is quite the ringing endorsement of his predecessor.
Collier was a true dual-threat quarterback and played for the university in the early 1980s. During his college career, he had 3,662 passing yards, 2,304 rushing yards, 5,977 yards of total offense, 16 passing touchdowns, and 26 rushing touchdowns. He became the first NCAA Division I quarterback ever to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards in the same season, which he accomplished in 1981.
Brett Favre completed 7,695 passing yards in his college career but had negative rushing yards. Therefore, in terms of throwing the ball, the NFL great was ahead of Collier but the reason he probably puts the latter ahead of him in terms of athleticism is because of his rushing ability.
Unfortunately, Reggie Collier never had an NFL career as great as Favre. He joined the USFL in the first round but ended up injuring his hip and his knee in the first season. This led to a nomadic career across multiple teams across both leagues.
But in terms of college statistics, Collier and Favre remain the two greatest quarterbacks to ever play for the University of Southern Mississippi. The former wore No. 10 and the latter wore No. 4 and both these jerseys have been retired.