Subscribe
Cassius Life Featured Video
CLOSE
BCS National Championship - Florida State v Auburn

Source: Jeff Gross / Getty

Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson knows quite a few things, and one of them happens to be Uvalde, TX. The sports legend says he’s familiar with the city from grabbing a bite to eat there many times and driven through it while on the way to visit a hunting friend. So upon hearing the news of the Robb Elementary School shooting in May, Bo anonymously offered to cover all funeral expenses for the 19 students and 2 teachers killed.

“I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting old,” said Jackson, per the Associated Press. “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.”

On Friday, May 27 (three days after the shooting happened), Jackson hopped a plane to Uvalde with a friend. Once he arrived, the 60-year-old Jackson met with Governor Greg Abbott and gave him a $170,000 check to pay for the victims’ funeral costs. Jackson has kept mum on who it was that flew with him to Texas, but the individual reportedly contributed towards that amount, too.

The governor’s office says the funds were “quickly directed to cover funeral costs” through the Texas-based nonprofit OneStar. Governor Abbott only referenced Jackson as an anonymous donor at a press conference being held that same Friday.

“The true spirit of our nation is Americans lifting up one another in times of need and hardship,” Abbott said, according to the AP. “In a truly selfless act, Bo covered all funeral expenses for the victims’ families so they would have one less thing to worry about as they grieved.”

It’s not clear what motivated Jackson to out himself now as one of the previously nameless givers. However, he also insists the primary focus should be on the people who lost their lives at Robb Elementary on May 24.

“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,” he said. “It’s the children… It’s the children… It’s the children,” Jackson later added. “If it doesn’t bother you, something’s wrong with you.”