As fate would have it, Champ’s status appears….to be at an all-time high, perfect time to say goodbye
There always comes a time when an accomplished athlete feels that after making incredible plays and putting up career defining numbers, the contentment they’d get from walking away from the love of the game is at it’s peak.
Well, you can finally say this about superstar cornerback Champ Bailey. Today, Bailey announced to the media that he will be retiring from football after a incredible 15-year career run. The 36-year-old shutdown icon spent his career making ridiculous interceptions and hits for the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos. Champ was able to successfully grace the NFL with his appearance in the pro bowl 12 times, a record that still stands as the most by a defensive player. In addition, he holds the record for the most career interceptions in the Pro Bowl. Racking up a astonishing career total of 52 interceptions, many felt that Bailey has lost a couple of steps as signs of that were really revealing. Sources believed that the 2000’s NFL All Decade team member should’ve stayed to play one more year in hopes of bouncing back and making up for that poor Super Bowl XLVIII performance that led to Denver’s annihilation by way of Seattle. He struggled to maintain his tenacious defensive coverage last season for the Broncos, a noticeable attribute that made him a 7x All Pro cornerback. Poised to return back to the playing field, Bailey was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice team but was later cut once the season began.
Champ decided to walk away from the gridiron because he wants to pursue other career opportunities, but it is safe to say Bailey should be a first ballot inductee to the Football Hall Of Fame. He put the ultimate fear in quarterbacks willing to throw his direction thanks to outstanding defensive awareness and hand eye coordination. Whatever Bailey’s future leads them towards, he will always have the respect from the elites of the game to the ultimate football fanatics who studied and analyzed the game. So, as Champ takes his last bow away from the pigskin, it is only right that fans in the NFL should idolize the living legend in the ways of Young Hova’s words….”Young did it to death, you gotta love it.”
Omari feels that hands down, Bailey is top 10 cornerbacks ever in the NFL. Definitely hall of fame bound.
-Omari White (@SmooveGuyO)
