Champ Bailey: ‘No-brainer,’ best for career to play for Broncos
Oct 19, 2016, 10:00 PM | Updated: 11:30 pm
As it turns out, it was a pretty good thing that Champ Bailey ended up with the Denver Broncos.
That’s obvious, from a Broncos perspective. Bailey, who was voted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame this week, played a decade in orange and blue — his accolades as length.
Bailey was selected to the most Pro Bowls (12) of any cornerback in NFL history. He was named an All-Pro seven times. He’s fourth in franchise history in interceptions (34), second in interceptions in a season (10), and had a team best five-straight games with an interception.
A sure-fire Ring of Famer, Bailey’s induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame will likely be a precursor to grabbing a gold jacket down in Canton, Ohio.
No, of course, the Broncos found an all-timer in Bailey.
All-time Broncos great Champ Bailey discusses Tim Tebow, the current Denver team and his soon-to-come post-career accolades, including a likely induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Listen here to the whole conversation:
But it’s Bailey, who joined DMac and Chad Brown Wednesday on “The Drive,” who says he was the fortunate one to land in Denver.
“Initially, I was disappointed. I really did not want to leave the Redskins, to be honest,” Bailey said. Washington, where he was drafted and played for five season, offered a big market and a division that could help build his brand.
“But then you look at who the (Broncos) owner was and where I could potentially be going,” Bailey said. “It was a no brainer for me in my career because on the field I knew I’d have success.”
Bailey said he could have pulled the plug on the blockbuster deal that sent Clinton Portis back east to Washington in exchange for the cornerback, but he “wanted to go just as bad as they wanted to get rid of (him).”
“It was always an optimistic outlook on every season I played there in Denver. Just to go from the Redskins, who everybody predicted to play bad, to somebody who everybody predicted to play good and had great expectations for, it was a no brainer for me back then,” Bailey said.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
