Blake Leeper is trying to do something that no one has ever done before.
Leeper, a 24-year-old Paralmypic sprinter who took home a bronze and a silver last year in London, is hoping to become the first disabled American to compete in the Olympics.
With that in mind, there's no better person for Leeper to look up to than Bo Jackson. Jackson, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, bucked convention by playing both baseball and football professionally. He became the first (and, to date, only) player to be named an All-Star in two major North American sports.
Leeper, who has used prosthetic legs since having his legs amputated as an infant, remembers hearing about Jackson receiving a prosthetic hip after an injury ended his football career. Ever since then, Leeper has identified with Jackson and looked up to him.
“As a child, seeing him with his prosthetic hip, even though I had prosthetic legs, I just heard, ‘prosthetics,’” Leeper told Arsenio Hall during a recent appearance on Hall's show. “I was really excited, and I related myself. Everywhere I would go, ‘Call me Bo. Call me Bo.’”
Leeper and Jackson met briefly 20 years ago, but not since then. To Leeper's surprise, Hall reunited the two men on his show. The results are heartwarming.
Jackson makes his entrance at the 3:30 mark of this video:
(H/T to For The Win)
