It’s a beautiful sight when players receive their flowers, and even more rewarding when they are alive to see it.
The gold jacket-wearing, lock-down corner Champ Bailey will be adding to his already impressive resume by being elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Before Bailey started denying balls like Dikembe Mutombo in Denver Broncos Country, he was locking up wide receivers in Georgia as a member of the Bulldogs, who recently won the College Football National Championship.
Champ Bailey continues to add to his list of football hardware
🐐Broncos legend @champbailey officially on his way into the College Football Hall Of Fame🏛️
— Ryan Greene 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) January 10, 2022
Here he is picking off fellow Broncos legend Peyton Manning(pass intended for Marcus Nash)when Georgia played Tennessee in '97. #BroncosCountry
(Bonus: Gus Johnson on the call🗣️🎙️) pic.twitter.com/KgibAvXWPl
Bailey did it on both sides of the ball, running routes on offense and shutting down air traffic on defense. In his final two years with the Bulldogs, Bailey racked up 978 receiving yards and five touchdowns, but that isn’t what got him drafted as the 7th overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft by Washington.
Before Bailey became a 12-time pro bowler, he was winning awards on the college level. In 1998 he was named to the Consensus All-American Team and received the Bronko Nagurski Award for most outstanding defensive player of the year.
Bailey’s ball-hawking skills lined up as a defensive back are the skills that had him finishing 7th in the 1998 Heisman race. Bailey totaled eight interceptions for 67 yards and a touchdown in three seasons with Georgia.
Georgia’s National Champion head coach sounded off on his vote for this year’s College Football Hall of Fame.
Y’all know who I’d be voting for!! Congrats to my teammate & long-time friend, Champ Bailey, on the nomination to the CFB Hall of Fame. You deserve it! #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/1yVn5x1pma
— Coach Kirby Smart (@KirbySmartUGA) June 16, 2020
After 22 years in the making and a Georgia national championship, it’s safe to say the Bulldog is having himself quite a start to the new year.
Be sure to check back with Predominantly Orange as we continue our coverage on the current vacant head coaching job for the Denver Broncos.