He might have been a little out there, to say the least. But Michael Jackson is easily the greatest entertainer I have ever had the pleasure of watching during my lifetime.

I never really got to witness the greatness of showmen like Elvis Presley, The Beatles or Frank Sinatra. But I essentially grew up with Michael Jackson and he was the best I ever saw.

The 50-year-old was the seventh child of the Jackson family and made his debut as an entertainer in 1968 as a member of The Jackson 5. Meaning his life in show business spanned 41 years and included selling more than 750 million records, including the most-popular album in the history of the world, “Thiller.”

Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and holds multiple Guinness World Records, including one for the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time.” He won 13 Grammy Awards and had 13 number-one singles during his solo career.

But even with all his mega-stardom and making millions and millions and millions of dollars during his life, Jackson was a damaged person. Probably because he never really recovered from being deprived during his childhood.

He even admitted that he built the amusement park Neverland Ranch as a way to compensate for never being able to be a child.

Even with that, he might have been just a weirdo. Why else would a grown man pal around with Macauley Caulkin, Webster and a monkey? But you can’t deny the star power of Michael Jackson and you can’t deny the fact that he also had a huge impact on the world of sports. Let me explain.

Although he looked exactly how an athlete is not supposed to look, Jackson was huge in the sports world.

Jackson single-handedly propelled the Super Bowl to mythical status after his halftime performance at the 1993 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.

Before Jackson agreed to perform, the Super Bowl halftime show was just an after-thought. Previous acts included marching bands, the Rockettes and Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck walking around looking cute.

Jackson performed three songs that day and raised NBC’s halftime rating higher than the Super Bowl action during the first two quarters. It was then that the NFL realized that the Super Bowl wasn’t just a football game. The Super Bowl was a mega-event, which happens to include a football game.

Since Jackson’s 1993 performance, the Super Bowl has enlisted the likes of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Aerosmith, U2, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, along with his sister’s nipple.

But the legendary Super Bowl performance is only the tip of the iceberg when talking about Jackson’s influence on the world of sports.

Everybody remembers the video of the song “Jam,” which included fellow super-icon Michael Jordan. The video featured Jordan teaching Jackson to play basketball and Jackson teaching Jordan to dance.

His moonwalk and other patented dance moves were “stolen” thousands of times by athletes celebrating touchdowns or other athletic accomplishments. The most recent I can remember came during a soccer match between the United States and Brazil by Clint Dempsey.

And in the ultimate oxymoron, Jackson was a huge fan of mixed-martial arts fighting. Even though it looked as if my 50-pound, 6-year-old son could choke Jackson out, it seemed as if he loved watching the UFC. Jackson secretly attended many UFC events and was last seen at UFC 84 in May 2008 with a black cloak over his face to hide his identity.

The UFC will be honoring Jackson during it’s UFC 100 event this month with a tribute to the King of Pop and there will be a post-fight ceremony to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame.

And finally, without Jackson, the New England Patriots dynasty might have never got going. His 1984 Victory tour was directly responsible for current Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft purchasing Foxboro Stadium in 1988, which eventually led to Kraft being able to buy the team in 1994.

Former Patriots owner Charles Sullivan got in over his head funding Jackson’s Victory tour and was forced to sell the stadium because of the bad investment. Kraft eventually stepped in and bought 50 percent of the Patriots. Since the purchase, New England has won three Super Bowls and dominated the NFL, all thanks to Michael Jackson.