Gold Jacket Spotlight: Champ Bailey’s 'unicorn' status cemented his legacy
Sports “unicorns” impress fans.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers wows Major League Baseball’s followers with his abilities as one of the game’s best pitchers and hitters. LeBron James continues to put up numbers no player in his 40s has accomplished in the National Basketball Association.
This past season, the University of Colorado’s Heisman Award-winning all-purpose superstar, Travis Hunter, impressed the college football landscape by averaging 113 snaps per game while he split time on offense and defense for the Buffaloes.
Before these “unicorns” captured the attention of the sports world, Pro Football Hall of Famer CHAMP BAILEY cemented his legacy as a football player with impressive versatility that this week becomes the focus of the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
The final season Champ spent at the University of Georgia in 1998 could be explained simply by looking at the numbers:
“I just loved to play,” Champ told The Athletic while reflecting on why he played offense, defense and special teams. “That’s why I did so much; I love to do it. It wasn’t because I was good at it. A lot of guys are good at it, but they hate putting in the work. That’s what I love to do.”
Champ’s versatility wasn’t limited to his exploits on the gridiron. He also competed for the Georgia track team. He still holds the school’s indoor long jump record with a leap of 25-feet-10.75.
By the time the Washington Redskins made him a first-round pick, his gifts as an athlete were well known in football circles.
When asked about Champ, Hall of Famer JOHN LYNCH said, “Champ was unreal. You talk about the special athletes that you played with in your career that are just a little bit better than everybody else, even at the highest level. Champ was certainly that. I marveled at what he would do on the field. I think the thing that kind of went unnoticed because his talent was so great was what a smart football player (he was). He had one of the highest football IQs I’d ever been around.”
All told, Champ and his once-in-a-generation athleticism was invited to 12 Pro Bowls in 15 seasons.
On Christmas Eve 2000, the Redskins chose to feature their “unicorn” enroute to a 20-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. On the day, he made two receptions for 54 yards and scored his only career rushing touchdown from 7 yards out. Defensively he finished the day with six solo tackles and an interception.
Uncovering a comparable stat line in NFL record books is like trying to find, well, a unicorn.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers wows Major League Baseball’s followers with his abilities as one of the game’s best pitchers and hitters. LeBron James continues to put up numbers no player in his 40s has accomplished in the National Basketball Association.
This past season, the University of Colorado’s Heisman Award-winning all-purpose superstar, Travis Hunter, impressed the college football landscape by averaging 113 snaps per game while he split time on offense and defense for the Buffaloes.
Before these “unicorns” captured the attention of the sports world, Pro Football Hall of Famer CHAMP BAILEY cemented his legacy as a football player with impressive versatility that this week becomes the focus of the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
The final season Champ spent at the University of Georgia in 1998 could be explained simply by looking at the numbers:
- 47 catches
- 744 receiving yards (led team)
- 5 receiving touchdowns (led team)
- 52 tackles
- 3 interceptions
- First-team All-American
- 1998 Bronko Nagurski Award winner (presented to the best defensive player in college football)
“I just loved to play,” Champ told The Athletic while reflecting on why he played offense, defense and special teams. “That’s why I did so much; I love to do it. It wasn’t because I was good at it. A lot of guys are good at it, but they hate putting in the work. That’s what I love to do.”
Champ’s versatility wasn’t limited to his exploits on the gridiron. He also competed for the Georgia track team. He still holds the school’s indoor long jump record with a leap of 25-feet-10.75.
By the time the Washington Redskins made him a first-round pick, his gifts as an athlete were well known in football circles.
When asked about Champ, Hall of Famer JOHN LYNCH said, “Champ was unreal. You talk about the special athletes that you played with in your career that are just a little bit better than everybody else, even at the highest level. Champ was certainly that. I marveled at what he would do on the field. I think the thing that kind of went unnoticed because his talent was so great was what a smart football player (he was). He had one of the highest football IQs I’d ever been around.”
All told, Champ and his once-in-a-generation athleticism was invited to 12 Pro Bowls in 15 seasons.
On Christmas Eve 2000, the Redskins chose to feature their “unicorn” enroute to a 20-3 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. On the day, he made two receptions for 54 yards and scored his only career rushing touchdown from 7 yards out. Defensively he finished the day with six solo tackles and an interception.
Uncovering a comparable stat line in NFL record books is like trying to find, well, a unicorn.
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