Former sports superstar Bo Jackson helped pay for the funerals of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the Uvalde school massacre in May, revealing himself as one of the previously anonymous donors who covered costs for families after one of the deadliest classroom shootings in U.S. history.
Jackson, whose rare success in both the NFL and Major League Baseball made him one of the greatest and most marketable athletes of the 1980s and 1990s, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he felt compelled to support the victims’ families after the loss of so many children.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting old,” said Jackson, a father of three and a grandfather as he nears 60. “It’s just not right for parents to bury their kids. It’s just not right.
“I know every family there probably works their butts off just to do what they do. ... The last thing they needed was to shell out thousands of dollars for something that never should have happened.”
Jackson said he felt a personal connection to the city he’s driven through many times. Uvalde has been a regular stop for a bite to eat or groceries before a long drive farther west to visit a friend’s ranch on hunting trips.
Jackson said he followed news coverage of the funerals, but he declined to say if he has been in direct contact with any of the families.
The day of the shooting, Jackson tweeted, “America ... let’s please stop all the nonsense. Please pray for all victims. If you hear something, say something. We aren’t supposed to bury our children. I’m praying for all of the families around the country who have lost loved ones to senseless shootings. This cannot continue.”
When asked to elaborate on the “This cannot continue,” though, Jackson declined, saying only that he wrote what he meant.
“I don’t want to turn this into anything (but) what it is. I was just trying (with the donation) to put a little sunshine in someone’s cloud, a very dark cloud,” Jackson said.
But he also noted the regularity of mass shootings in the country.
“The last thing you want to hear is there’s an active shooter in your child’s school,” he said. “It’s happening everywhere now.”
Uvalde wasn’t Jackson’s first large-scale act of philanthropy. He hosts an annual bike ride in his home state of Alabama to raise money for disaster relief funds, an effort started after tornadoes killed nearly 250 people. The Uvalde donation was his first in response to a mass shooting.
“It’s the children. ... It’s the children. ... It’s the children,” Jackson said, pausing before each repetition to gather himself. “If it doesn’t bother you, something’s wrong with you.”