Champ Bailey

Champ Bailey

Denver Broncos
Career information
College:	Georgia
NFL draft:	1999 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7
Career history
Washington Redskins (1999–2003) Denver Broncos (2004–present)
Career highlights and awards
1998 Nagurski Award 8x Pro Bowl selection (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) 4x All-Pro selection (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) Tied with 4 other players for NFL interception touchdowns in 2005 Led NFL in interception yards in 2006 Tied with Asante Samuel for NFL interceptions in 2006
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2007
Tackles: 643 Interceptions: 42 Touchdowns: 4

Roland "Champ" Bailey (born June 22, 1978 in Folkston, Georgia) is an American football player, starting at cornerback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. His mother nicknamed him "Champ" at an early age. He is the older brother of Broncos linebacker and teammate Boss Bailey.

NFL career

1999 NFL Draft

The Washington Redskins selected Bailey in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft, as the seventh overall pick. He was known as the first player ever drafted from his hometown of Folkston, Georgia an achievement Bailey states was big for his town to increase its interest in football. He is universally considered one of the best corners in the NFL.

Pre-draft measureables
Wt	40y	20ss	3-cone	Vert	BP	Wonderlic
184 lb*	4.28s*	3.79s*	X	44 in*	X	25*

(* represents NFL Combine)

Washington Redskins (1999 to 2003)

Bailey's reputation as a shutdown corner was established at the professional level. He was a large presence on a defense that had its ups and downs. He benefited from time spent with iconic cornerbacks Deion Sanders and Darrell Green; both are considered among the best of all time. In tandem with Fred Smoot and the aforementioned greats, Champ helped establish a near legendary era of man-to-man coverage for the 'Skins.

Denver Broncos (2004 to present)

Prior to the 2004 season, he was traded to the Broncos along with a second-round draft pick (who ended up being Tatum Bell) for Clinton Portis. Following the trade, he signed a seven-year contract worth $63 million. Bailey has been named to eight consecutive Pro Bowls and 4 All-Pro teams.

On January 14, 2006 in a divisional playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos, Bailey broke the record for the longest non-scoring play in NFL history. With the Patriots poised to score, Bailey intercepted a pass from Tom Brady in the end zone and returned it 100 yards to the 1 yard line, and fumbled the ball out of bounds, after being chased down and tackled out of bounds by Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson, who also went to Georgia. The Patriots challenged, in the hope that the ball was fumbled through the end zone, which would have caused the possession of the ball to go to New England Patriots at the 20 yard line , but there was not enough evidence to overturn the call, and the play stood. The Broncos scored a touchdown on the next play. The play was considered the most crucial of the contest, which the Broncos would go on to win, hence ending the Patriots' quest for a historic third straight Super Bowl title.

Against the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks on December 3rd 2006, The Seahawks did not test Bailey once in the first half. The first time Matt Hasselbeck threw in Bailey’s direction, the cornerback intercepted a deep throw intended for Darrell Jackson.

Hasselbeck was not surprised saying in an interview following the game, "I've thrown him interceptions in my career, who hasn't? He's a great corner, a great cover guy and just a very, very talented guy."

In the 2006 NFL season, Bailey had 10 interceptions through the season (tied for the NFL lead with Asante Samuel although Samuel went to the playoffs and intercepted two more passes which he returned for touchdowns). Bailey also did not give up a touchdown during the season. Bailey, San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, were unanimous choices for the NFL All-Pro team in 2006. In 2006 Ron Jaworski stated on MNF pre-season against the 49ers that Bailey only got tested 35 times and only 4 passes were completed over him for 0 TDs.

In an injury-plagued 2007 season, Bailey recorded 84 tackles, along with 3 interceptions. He was named to another Pro Bowl and received second-team All-Pro honors in 2007.

Career statistics

Defensive Stats (Regular Season)

Year	Team	G	Tkl	Ast	Sacks	Int	Yds	Avg	Lg	TD	Pass Def
1999	Washington Redskins	16	78	6	1	5	55	11.0	59	1	12
2000	Washington Redskins	16	62	5	0	5	48	9.6	48	0	10
2001	Washington Redskins	16	50	2	0	3	17	5.7	12	0	14
2002	Washington Redskins	16	68	6	0	3	2	0.7	2	0	19
2003	Washington Redskins	16	71	4	0	2	2	1.0	2	0	7
2004	Denver Broncos	16	81	13	0	3	0	0.0	0	0	9
2005	Denver Broncos	14	64	5	0	8	139	17.4	65	2	15
2006	Denver Broncos	16	86	12	0	10	162	16.2	70	1	11
2007	Denver Broncos	15	84	13	0	3	3	1.0	3	0	14
Totals:		141	643	53	1	42	425	10.9	70	4	97

External links

• NFLPlayers.com Profile
• NFL.com Profile
• CNNSI.com draft Video