Roland "Champ" Bailey Jr. (born June 22, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, where he earned consensus All-American honors, and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft.
In 2004, Bailey was traded to the Denver Broncos, where he played for ten seasons until he was released in early 2014, following the Broncos' Super Bowl XLVIII loss. Bailey signed with the New Orleans Saints shortly afterward but was released before the start of the regular season. In October 2014, Bailey announced his retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons. He was selected to 12 Pro Bowls in his career, the most ever for a cornerback. He holds the current NFL record for most passes defended, with 203. In 2019, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Bailey is widely considered to be one of the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history.
Roland Bailey was born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky to Elaine Bailey and grew up in Folkston, Georgia, where he was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, track) at Charlton County High School. His mother, Elaine Bailey, is responsible for giving him the moniker "Champ" which he's known as. She claims she began calling him Champ as a baby and he's been called Champ since.
He has two brothers, one older and one younger. His older brother is Ronald Bailey and his younger brother is Rodney Bailey, but also goes by his nickname, Boss Bailey. Both also played football at Charlton County and the University of Georgia. Champ's first two seasons at Georgia overlapped with Ronald's last two seasons; Champ then played his final season alongside Boss. Ronald went on to sign with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys but suffered a career-ending injury. Boss played linebacker in the NFL for the Detroit Lions from 2003 to 2007, then joined Champ on the Denver Broncos in 2008.
At Charlton County High School, Bailey recorded 3,573 rushing yards, 58 rushing touchdowns, 13 100-yard rushing games, and 1,211 passing yards on 74 completions. On defense he recorded eight interceptions, while on special teams he returned 26 kickoffs for 731 yards and 22 punts for 318 yards. His total offensive yardage was 5,855 with 394 points scored. He still holds school records for season rushing yards (1,858), season rushing touchdowns (28), season scoring (180), and single-game rushing (417 yards), while also tying the record for single-game rushing touchdowns.
Bailey received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, where he played for the Georgia Bulldogs football team from 1996 to 1998. He was regarded as one of college football's greatest multiple threats (offense, defense, and special teams) in his three seasons as a Bulldog. In his final year at Georgia, he registered 52 tackles (four for losses), three interceptions, seven passes deflected, 47 catches for 744 yards (15.8 avg.), five touchdowns, 84 yards rushing on 16 carries, 12 kickoff returns for 261 yards and four punt returns for 49 yards. He averaged 103.5 all-purpose yards per game and logged 957 plays (547 defense, 301 offense, and 109 special teams) on the way to earning consensus first-team All-America and first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors and claiming the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top defensive player. Against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Peach Bowl, he caught three passes for 73 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown, rushed three times for nine yards, returned five kickoffs for 104 yards, returned a punt 12 yards, and posted two tackles and one pass defended at cornerback. In three years at Georgia, he played 33 games (24 starts) and recorded 147 total tackles, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, eight interceptions and 27 passes defended. He was an All-SEC first-team selection as a sophomore, starting every game at left cornerback and one game at wide receiver.
Bailey was also a standout track and field athlete at Georgia; he ran the 55 meters and 60 meters, recording personal bests of 6.35 seconds and 6.85 seconds, respectively. He also competed in long jump and triple jump.
Bailey set a school indoor long jump record in 1998 of 7.89 meters (25 ft 11 in) to finish third at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The Washington Redskins selected Bailey in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1999 NFL draft. The Redskins traded their first- (12th overall), third- (71st overall), fourth- (106th overall), and fifth-round picks in the 1999 NFL Draft and their third-round pick (87th overall) in the 2000 NFL draft to the Chicago Bears in exchange for their first-round pick (seventh overall) to use to secure their draft pick to immediately select Bailey. He was the first ever drafted player to come from his hometown of Folkston, Georgia.
On July 24, 1999, the Redskins signed Bailey to a five–year, $9.64 million rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $5.25 million. The contract had a maximum value of $12 million with incentives and bonuses included.
He entered training camp slated as the No. 2 starting cornerback under defensive coordinator Mike Nolan following the departure of Cris Dishman. Head coach Norv Turner named Bailey and Darrell Green the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On September 12, 1999, Bailey made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Washington Redskins' home-opener against the Dallas Cowboys and made six solo tackles, one pass deflection, and had his first career interception on a pass Troy Aikman threw to wide receiver Rocket Ismail as they lost in overtime 41–35. In Week 4, he set a season-high with eight solo tackles and had one pass break-up as the Redskins defeated the Carolina Panthers 36–38. On October 17, 1999, Bailey recorded six combined tackles (three solo), set a season-high with four pass deflections, set a career-high with three interceptions off passes thrown by Jake Plummer, and returned one 59–yards to score his first career touchdown during a 24–10 victory at the Arizona Cardinals. In Week 14, he recorded six solo tackles, made two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Jake Plummer as the Redskins defeated the Arizona Cardinals 3–28. He started all 16 games during his rookie season and finished with 80 combined tackles (73 solo), 15 pass deflections, five interceptions, one sack, and had one touchdown.
The Washington Redskins finished the 1999 NFL season with a 10–6 record to place first in the NFC East. On January 8, 2000, Bailey started in his first career playoff appearance and recorded three solo tackles, made two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass attempt by Gus Frerotte as the Redskins defeated the Detroit Lions 13–27 in the NFC Wild-Card Game.
On June 7, 2000, the Washington Redskins signed Deion Sanders and immediately named him the de facto No. 1 starting cornerback. The Redskins hired Ray Rhodes to be their new defensive coordinator after they chose not to re-sign Mike Nolan. Head coach Norv Turner named Bailey and Deion Sanders the starting cornerbacks to begin the season alongside Darrell Green.
On September 3, 2000, Bailey started in the Redskins' home-opener against the Carolina Panthers and set a season-high with eight solo tackles and had one pass deflection as they won 17–20. The following week, he had one solo tackle, two pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on passes thrown by Charlie Batch during a 10–15 loss at the Detroit Lions in Week 2. On November 20, 2000, he recorded one solo tackle, had one pass break-up, and helped secure a 33–20 win at the St. Louis Rams by intercepting a pass by Trent Green to wide receiver Isaac Bruce with 5:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. On December 4, 2000, the Redskins fired head coach Norv Turner as they had a 7–6 record and appointed assistant head coach Terry Robiskie to interim head coach. On December 24, 2000, Bailey recorded six solo tackles, set a season-high with four pass deflections, and intercepted a pass Jake Plummer threw to wide receiver David Boston as the Redskins defeated the Arizona Cardinals 3–20. He started in all 16 games for the second consecutive season and made 61 combined tackles (56 solo), 14 pass deflections, and five interceptions. He was selected to the 2001 Pro Bowl, marking his first Pro Bowl selection of his career.