dogfish
10-05-2009, 12:26 AM
I've been wanting to start this one for a while, and now seems like the perfect time. I've gotta admit, some of the comments that have been made about Champ on these boards over the past year have really pissed me off. People crying about how he's "always" hurt, saying he's past his prime and isn't that good anymore, etc etc. . . we should trade him, he isn't worth what he makes, blah blah blah. Buncha ungrateful chumps! You know who you are. . .
So let's take a moment to stop and appreciate one of the very best to ever wear the orange and blue, and one of the all-time greats at his position. Cornerback is probably the toughest position on the field after quarterback, especially in today's game-- it's WAY tougher than it was twenty years ago. Look at the utter freaks these guys are regularly matched up against, 6'4" 225 pound mutants who can still run sub-4.4 40's, and have 35-40" verticals. Yea. Try staying with one of those dudes when he knows where he's going and you don't. And don't get your hands even close to him beyond five yards. This is the golden era of the wide receiver, in a game where teams throw more than fifty percent of the time and are just as likely to spread the field with three or four wideouts from the shotgun formation on third and short as they are on third and long.
The corner's job is harder now than in any other era of the NFL-- it's akin to Sissyphus trying to push the damn rock back up the hill, and fans are waiting to crucify them if they give up anything at all. Quietly lock down your guy all game long and most people never even notice. Get beat and you're an easy scapegoat. Today's NFL is a league that eats up corners like a paper shredder. Even good ones can fall off quicker than you can blink, and never be heard from again.
And in this pressure cooker, Bailey has put together one of the better careers the game has seen from the position, and he's not done yet. And not only has he played at an exceptionally high level, he's also been a model of consistency and dependability. Seriously, people complain about him getting hurt? Bullshit!! Dude has been amazingly durable. He's played in 150 of a possible 160 games in his career, starting all 16 games seven out of ten seasons and never missing more than two games before last year. So he's gotten banged up a bit in recent seasons-- it's football, people! It's a contact sport. Everybody gets banged up-- what matters is whether you can play through it, and he has.
And talk about consistency-- his eight consecutive Pro Bowls made the longest streak in league history for his position, and tie him for second all-time in total selections by a cornerback. He also has four Associated Press All-Pro selections, and finished second in the 2006 Defensive MVP voting. He's an elite athlete with the ability to make gamechanging plays, but unlike some of the game's other great corners, he's not a finesse player-- he takes pride in his strong tackling and is never afraid to stick his nose in there in the running game. He's a consummate pro in terms of preparation and work ethic, and a humble team player who's made some big stops on the kick coverage teams and used to lobby the coaching staff to let him take snaps at wide receiver. He's pretty much the definition of a complete player.
Let's stand back for a minute and appreciate what a privilege it's been to have a player like this in Denver. It's easy for fans to get caught up in the moment, and wins and losses-- and we haven't had the success during his tenure here that we experienced with some of our other greats-- but for this football fanatic, it's been a complete joy to wach this guy do his thing week in and week out. He's got a well-deserved spot awaiting him in Canton when he's done, and I'll be surprised if he doesn't go in on the first ballot. War Champ Bailey.
So let's take a moment to stop and appreciate one of the very best to ever wear the orange and blue, and one of the all-time greats at his position. Cornerback is probably the toughest position on the field after quarterback, especially in today's game-- it's WAY tougher than it was twenty years ago. Look at the utter freaks these guys are regularly matched up against, 6'4" 225 pound mutants who can still run sub-4.4 40's, and have 35-40" verticals. Yea. Try staying with one of those dudes when he knows where he's going and you don't. And don't get your hands even close to him beyond five yards. This is the golden era of the wide receiver, in a game where teams throw more than fifty percent of the time and are just as likely to spread the field with three or four wideouts from the shotgun formation on third and short as they are on third and long.
The corner's job is harder now than in any other era of the NFL-- it's akin to Sissyphus trying to push the damn rock back up the hill, and fans are waiting to crucify them if they give up anything at all. Quietly lock down your guy all game long and most people never even notice. Get beat and you're an easy scapegoat. Today's NFL is a league that eats up corners like a paper shredder. Even good ones can fall off quicker than you can blink, and never be heard from again.
And in this pressure cooker, Bailey has put together one of the better careers the game has seen from the position, and he's not done yet. And not only has he played at an exceptionally high level, he's also been a model of consistency and dependability. Seriously, people complain about him getting hurt? Bullshit!! Dude has been amazingly durable. He's played in 150 of a possible 160 games in his career, starting all 16 games seven out of ten seasons and never missing more than two games before last year. So he's gotten banged up a bit in recent seasons-- it's football, people! It's a contact sport. Everybody gets banged up-- what matters is whether you can play through it, and he has.
And talk about consistency-- his eight consecutive Pro Bowls made the longest streak in league history for his position, and tie him for second all-time in total selections by a cornerback. He also has four Associated Press All-Pro selections, and finished second in the 2006 Defensive MVP voting. He's an elite athlete with the ability to make gamechanging plays, but unlike some of the game's other great corners, he's not a finesse player-- he takes pride in his strong tackling and is never afraid to stick his nose in there in the running game. He's a consummate pro in terms of preparation and work ethic, and a humble team player who's made some big stops on the kick coverage teams and used to lobby the coaching staff to let him take snaps at wide receiver. He's pretty much the definition of a complete player.
Let's stand back for a minute and appreciate what a privilege it's been to have a player like this in Denver. It's easy for fans to get caught up in the moment, and wins and losses-- and we haven't had the success during his tenure here that we experienced with some of our other greats-- but for this football fanatic, it's been a complete joy to wach this guy do his thing week in and week out. He's got a well-deserved spot awaiting him in Canton when he's done, and I'll be surprised if he doesn't go in on the first ballot. War Champ Bailey.