31 Player Countdown: #3 Champ Bailey

To help pass the time, we’re reviewing 31 players in 31 days (in alphabetical order) leading all the way up until Game Day on Monday, September 12th.  Today’s player: cornerback Champ Bailey.

A 13-year veteran, Bailey was acquired by the Broncos via trade with the Washington Redskins in 2004.  Standing 6’0 and weighing 192 pounds, Bailey played collegiate football at Georgia.

Quick Facts/Stats (courtesy of the Denver Broncos):

• A 13th-year player and eighth-year Bronco whose 10 career Pro Bowl selections are the most by a cornerback in NFL history.
  

  Champ Bailey #24 of the Denver Broncos during warm-ups prior to the start of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs on December 5, 2010 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

• Named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000s as chosen by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

• Earned Associated Press All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors during each of his first four seasons in Denver from 2004-07 after spending five years with Washington to begin his NFL career.

• Tied for fifth in franchise history in Pro Bowl selections (6) and tied for fifth in club annals with 30 interceptions as a Bronco.

• Leads all NFL cornerbacks (3rd among all players) with 48 interceptions since his rookie year in 1999 while placing sixth in the league with 30 interceptions since joining the Broncos in 2004.

• Began his NFL career starting 99 consecutive regular-season games and has totaled the second-most starts (181) among league cornerbacks since his rookie year in 1999.

• Penalized for pass interference only three times during the last five years in the 360 times he was targeted (0.83%) according to Stats Inc.

• Recorded 18 interceptions with Denver from 2005-06, marking the most by an NFL player in a two-year stretch since Everson Walls had 18 interceptions for Dallas from 1981-82.

• Tied for the NFL lead in 2006 with a career-best 10 interceptions, which marked the second highest single-season total in Denver history and propelled him to a second-place finish in the Associated Press’ NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting.

• Turned in one of the most dramatic plays in NFL postseason annals when he returned an interception 100 yards in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game against New England (1/14/06), marking the longest non-scoring interception return in league playoff history.

• Became the youngest player in NFL history to post three interceptions in a game as a rookie with the Redskins (at Arizona, 10/17/99).

• Won the 1998 Bronko Nagurski Award at the University of Georgia as the nation’s top defensive player while also earning consensus All-America honors that year.

• Joined the Broncos on March 4, 2004, in a trade with Washington that brought Bailey and a second-round draft choice (RB Tatum Bell) to Denver in exchange for running back Clinton Portis.

• Selected by Washington in the first round (7th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft.

Did You Know… Bailey played alongside Hall of Fame cornerbacks Deion Sanders and Darrell Green in Washington.  Those were some pretty talented defensive backs to learn under.

Quote ‘Em:  “I’m still elite, definitely. I’m still one of the top-five corners in this game. I look at my whole game, not just covering, not just tackling, not just one area, my whole game. I’m definitely one of the elite — still.”  — Bailey on getting older. (Via the Denver Post)

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