- Bo Jackson played a total of four seasons in the NFL and eight seasons in the MLB.
- Jackson won the coveted Heisman Trophy while playing for Auburn in 1985.
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Former professional baseball and football player Vincent ‘Bo’ Jackson won a $21 million verdict in his civil case against his niece and nephew for attempting to extort him.
The Feb. 2 decision included a permanent protective order prohibiting Thomas Lee Anderson and his sister, Erica M. Anderson Ross, from bothering or contacting Jackson, 61, and his immediate family members. The Andersons must also stay at least 500 yards from the Jacksons and remove any content about them from social media, media outlets reported.
The lawsuit, filed in April, alleged that the Andersons attempted to extort $20 million from Jackson through harassment and intimidation.
“Unfortunately for those attempting to extort $20 million from Jackson and his family, Bo still responds forcefully,” Jackson’s attorneys, Robert Ingram and David Conley, said in a news release about the case Monday.
Jackson claimed the harassment began in 2022 and included threatening social media posts and messages, public accusations that left him in a false light, and public disclosure of private information intended to cause him serious emotional distress, according to WSB-TV.
Bo Jackson received $21 million after an extortion case against his niece and nephew
Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns in four years with the Los Angeles Raiders.
Jackson played for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and California Angels in the MLB.
He said Thomas Anderson wrote on Facebook that he would post photos, texts and medical records of Jackson to “show America” he wasn’t playing around, the lawsuit alleges.
The Andersons, with the help of an Atlanta attorney, demanded the money in exchange for ending their conduct, Jackson said. He said they threatened to show up at a restaurant near his home and disrupt a charity event he organized in April in Auburn as a means of harassment and intimidation.
The former Heisman winner feared for his safety and that of his immediate family, the lawsuit claims. He sought a protective order for stalking against the Andersons, as well as unspecified damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. Jackson also filed a civil conspiracy lawsuit against the brothers.
The court concluded that there was no legitimate purpose for these actions and that even after receiving a cease and desist letter from Jackson’s attorneys, the intimidation and harassment continued.
According to the Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionCobb County Superior Court Judge Jason D. Marbutt said in his order that neither the Andersons nor their attorneys refuted Jackson’s claims or participated in the case after a hearing in May 2023, when they agreed to an order of temporary protection.
The judge found the Andersons in default and accepted all of Jackson’s accusations as true, the newspaper said.
“Reasonable people would find the defendants’ behavior extreme and outrageous,” Marbutt wrote. “The court saw evidence that a lawyer representing the defendants claimed that his clients’ conduct would cease for the sum of $20 million.”