Barry Bonds is one of the most successful Baseball players of all time, and the legend has just been promoted to blue belt in BJJ by Jay Janero. Bonds played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball during his career, playing for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants between 1986 and 2007. He was named MVP for an incredible 7 years during his career, but this is unsurprising considering the fact that he holds numerous records in the sport. Bonds has not only registered the most home runs in a season, but also the most home runs throughout his career.
Despite his incredible career at the top of his sport, Bonds has not actually been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is almost entirely due to the fact that he was embroiled in a steroid scandal for years after he retired from the sport, including being convicted of Obstruction of Justice at one point. Although that conviction was overturned, the damage was already done and Bonds’ career was marred by the steroids scandal. Since his retirement, he’s decided to take up BJJ with his free time at the Evolve Training Center in San Francisco, USA under Jay Janero.
It seems as though this is becoming increasingly common in recent years, but elite athletes are turning to Jiu-Jitsu once they retire from the sports that became their careers. Barry Bonds is far from the first professional athlete to take up BJJ and make it to blue belt once they stop competing, although he is undoubtedly one of the most famous. It makes sense really, seeing as BJJ is becoming increasingly popular among celebrities from all walks of life. Not just that, but retired athletes often find themselves at something of a loss once they no longer need to dedicate their life to a sport. A more casual hobby like BJJ is perfect then for putting that competitive personality and the athletic gifts to good use, while also not putting too much stress on the body.
Barry Bonds announced the news that he had been promoted to blue belt in BJJ in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
