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Call him the Renaissance Man of Aggie athletics.
Bo Eason, a giant on UC Davis' gridiron in the early 1980s, has gone on to become an All-Pro for the Houston Oilers, an actor, playwright, motivational speaker, loving husband and father and, most recently, author.
Eason, who still holds the record for UC Davis career interception-yardage returns (238 yards), comes back to town this weekend. The reason? Eason will be honored when he becomes only the second person to grace the Aggie Pride Wall at UC Davis Health Stadium. Eason will join former teammate Ken O'Brien on the press box facade.
"The first thing that comes to my mind is the guys in the locker room and all the coaches," Eason said when asked about what the honor personally means.
"Even though I got a chance to play in the NFL, I was never closer to a (group of guys), especially that '82 team…
"…Kenny O'Brien, Bob Slater, Loyal Miner, Glen Fricker. Mike Wise, Matt Hesslegren and those other guys on the defensive side of the ball made it so easy to play defensive back because they got such pressure on the quarterback so quickly. That was a really good team — and it was really well coached."
During our chat this week, Eason dwelled on that Aggie coach staff. He says his degree as a political science major was only part of the world-class education he received at UC Davis.
"I often say this when people say 'Wow. The coaching staffs must really be great in the NFL.' Yeah, they're great, but I was never more prepared for a game than I was at Davis."
The lights-out safety of yore points to the late head coach Jim Sochor as providing the framework, with secondary coach Sam Young and defensive coordinator Bob Foster both making sure their charges knew the opposition inside and out.
Foster and Young remain in the UC Davis football fold.
"The reason I got to play in the pros was probably my preparation at UC Davis. It wasn't about anything physical … it was mental."
Eason remembers Young and Foster heading to a secret hideaway in Lower Hickey Gym. Key players in tow, it would give staff a chance to avoid constant interruption. The peace and quiet allowed everybody to slip into laser-focus mode.
The hiding place was a small, dusty, musty room, complete with cobwebs and bad lighting. According to Eason: "It was like a dungeon, but that was our room where Foster and I and Sam would hide out."
After those sessions with the Aggie hierarchy, Eason said he knew more about the other team than they knew about themselves.
"Sacramento State, Humboldt State … It was because of our coaches, and how they were very specific about how you break down a team, that we were successful all those years."
After an accomplished stint in the NFL, Eason turned to acting and his one-man show, "Runt of the Litter." His stage work was parlayed into yet another manifestation of Bo Eason — this time as a motivational speaker. Over the years, the former Aggie has energized employees and management types from Morgan Stanley, Mass Mutual, Merrill Lynch and Advisors Excel. All while he's made time to drop in on college campuses and high school classrooms.
And now, Eason is a book author.
"After I wrote the play, and enjoyed the success that it earned, I was offered a lot of book deals … but I never took them. I didn't know what I would write about," Eason told me.
But the offers kept coming and one day, New York literary agent Celeste Fine heard Eason speak about what it takes to be the best at whatever you choose and "how I attempted that in so many disciplines in my life."
Fine knew what Bo's next step had to be
"That's the book you should write," Fine told Eason, who said he replied, "OK, that I will write about; that I will spend two years of my life writing about."
This week, "There's No Plan B for Your A-Game" was released to encouraging reviews. With Eason's placement on the Aggie Pride Wall, the timing couldn't be more perfect for a Friday, Oct. 25, visit to The Avid Reader in Davis for a brief presentation and book signing by the Aggie favorite.
Things kick off at 4 p.m. at the 617 Second Street location.
"The title really came from my mom, Marylin," explains Eason, who says he and his brother Tony (a former Illinois standout and New England Patriot quarterback) had dreams of playing professional football as children.
"Others would tell Mom, 'You know that (playing pro) is not possible, you ought to have a Plan B…'
"My mom would hear that and literally escort those people to the front door, put them on the porch and close the door. She was so serious about our dreams that she knew innately that if you had a Plan B, then Plan A was not going to work out."
Bo's late father Charles encouraged his boys at every turn. Eason remembers dad telling each morning to have a plan, be the best he could, stick with that plan.
Growing up in Clarksburg, Bo and Tony attended Delta High before their college successes.
Bo Eason was such a hard-hitting ballhawk that the Oilers drafted him in the second round of the '83 NFL draft. The former Aggie would go on to play four years in Houston before a truncated stop in San Francisco, where a knee injury ended his career during training camp.
I wondered if Tony and Bo ever faced each other in the pros...
"We were supposed to, in 1987," Eason remembers. "And my mom and dad were worried. But four or five days before that game, the NFL went on strike and that game was never played. Our parents were relieved. They were like 'Oh, good.'"
With his books hitting the stores this month, Eason has been slammed with requests for interviews. He's been doing radio and television spots and, with his visit to Davis this week, that schedule figures to get even more jam-packed.
Eason, his wife of 21 years, Dawn, and their kids Eloise, 15, Axel, 13, and Lyla, 10, will arrive in town Thursday. Then the Westlake Village resident is booked on a morning Sacramento TV show, will speak to coach Dan Hawkins' 2019 Aggies after Friday's walk-through and has the book signing that afternoon.
Oh, and speaking of Hawkins — a fullback and colleague of Eason's in the early 1980s — Eason was asked about the practices in which he and the current Aggie coach lined up across from each other.
"He was just a load. There are some guys you look forward to tackling, right?" asked Eason. "He's not one of them.
"He's this old-school guy, tough as a bent nail. I just tried to stay away from him. But what a great guy, obviously a good football coach and I love him."
Even with the honor causing all this local buzz and culminating with Saturday's name unveiling on the UC Davis Health Stadium wall, the prideful Aggie is humbled.
Reiterating that he wouldn't be there without his former coaches and teammates, Bo adds:
"I am so looking forward to seeing some of my old teammates, friends and folks from the community."
Expect a warm Aggie Nation welcome home, Mr. Eason.
Notes: Be sure to visit BoEasonBook.com for a sneak peek at "There's No Plan B for Your A-Game" or BoEason.com for engagement information and more about the versatile former Aggie. ... Game time for UC Davis vs. Weber State is 4 p.m.
