Neil Callaway was Auburn's offensive coordinator when Bo Jackson won the Heisman Trophy in 1985. Twenty-four years later, he was Alabama-Birmingham's coach when Joe Webb became the first player in NCAA history to post consecutive seasons of 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing.
"Bo's the best athlete that's ever been," Callaway said. "But I'm going to say this: Joe's in that same league with Bo."
If that's true at the NFL level, the Vikings just made the finest 199th pick in the draft since the Patriots stumbled upon a man named Brady 10 years ago.
"I remember Bo like it was yesterday," said Webb, a 6-3, 223-pounder born in Birmingham the year after Bo won the Heisman. "His hometown [Bessemer, Ala.] is about 15 minutes from where I grew up. Everybody knows Bo. Just to be mentioned with him is pretty amazing."
Jackson was a freakishly athletic superstar, an all-star in baseball and football, and the Nike pitchman who made the words "Bo Knows" a lifelong mantra for people old enough to remember the 1980s and early 1990s.
Webb is a relative nobody trying to become somebody we never forget. Whether he's successful, who knows? But his size, speed, athleticism and late-round selection make him one of this year's more intriguing draft picks.
Webb was a college quarterback who spent 2008 running for 1,427 yards, the third-highest total by a quarterback in NCAA history. He also played receiver quite well in 2007 and again at the Senior Bowl, where he showed the Vikings he was worth a sixth-round pick as a receiver/athlete.
Webb wasn't among the more than 300 prospects invited to the NFL scouting combine. But he did wow scouts at UAB's pro day when he ran a 4.4 40-yard dash, bench-pressed 225 pounds 21 times and reached 42 1/2 inches on his vertical jump. Throw in the big body and the large mitts and it's tough not to wager a sixth-rounder on this guy's potential.
