For years, Champ Bailey struck fear in the hearts of NFL quarterbacks when they saw him patrolling the secondary. On Tuesday, Bailey was considerably less intimidating handing out fluffy ducks to kids at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
An all-time great with the Georgia Bulldogs and a Pro Football Hall of Famer, Bailey is playing an ambassadorial role this week for Aflac, the title sponsor for Saturday’s Aflac Kickoff game between No. 1 Georgia and No. 14 Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But before he shows up for that monumental college football matchup, Bailey showed up for children at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center to meet children Tuesday who are fighting a much more significant battle inside that facility.
While Bailey particularly enjoyed handing out those “special ducks” – more on them later – it’s the cause that they represent that something he is passionate about. Bailey’s brother Ronald and father Roland were diagnosed with a form of cancer since 2020. The Bailey family has been in a battle with the disease ever since.
“It’s one thing when you hear your parents have cancer. It’s another whole thing when you hear your brother has it,” Champ Bailey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re three years apart. He was as healthy as they come; he works out; great shape. And then you hear he has something like this, you realize how unpredictable it is. That really got my attention.”
So much so that Champ – whose given name is Roland Jr. – has undergone an annual cancer screening each of the year since his oldest brother was diagnosed.
“That’s the main message – go get checked,” Champ Bailey said. “I was tested to see if it was genetic. It wasn’t. It’s one of those things as a man you don’t talk about a lot, but it needs to be a topic of conversation. We’re all over 40, pushing 50. So, personally it’s as close to home as it could be.”
Ronald (49), Champ (46) and Boss (44) all played football at Georgia. Champ and Boss, a linebacker whose given name is Rodney, each ended up in the NFL. Ronald and Champ were together in the Bulldogs’ secondary in 1996 and ‘97.
But it was Champ who achieved true greatness in football. After being selected in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft by Washington, Bailey played 15 NFL seasons with the Redskins and Denver Broncos. He made 12 Pro Bowls – the most ever for a cornerback – and holds the current NFL record for most passes defended (203). Widely considered one of the greatest cornerbacks to play the game, Bailey was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, his first year of eligibility.
It was at Georgia from 1996-98 that Champ became a household name. As a junior, Bailey won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defensive back and earned consensus All-American and All-SEC honors. He rarely came off the field, playing every snap on defense, regularly on offense and returning punts in kickoffs. Playing in the Peach Bowl in 1998, Bailey caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, rushed three times for 9 yards, returned five kickoffs for 104 yards, returned a punt 12 yards and posted two tackles and a pass breakup at cornerback in a win over Virginia.
One of Bailey’s defensive backfield mates at Georgia was a safety named Kirby Smart. Two years Bailey’s elder, Smart even in those days acted like a coach.
“Here I come in as a highly touted freshman playing cornerback, and coming from (Charlton County), I really didn’t understand the relationship between a safety and a corner on a down-to-down basis,” Bailey said. “Kirby, he made sure I understood that. I was trying to be the best cornerback I could be just so Kirby would stop yelling at me. He was the smartest guy in the room all the time, and he let you know it.”
Nobody is happier about Smart’s success than Bailey. After retiring from pro football in 2014 and relocating to Atlanta, Bailey often attends Georgia games in Athens, Atlanta and in the College Football Playoff. Thanks to Aflac, Bailey will be at “the Benz” on Saturday to see his old teammate “take care of business” against Clemson.
Odds are good that Bailey will have at least one of those stuffed ducks with him. Nobody is more fond of the Aflac duck than he, especially the electronic ones he’s been giving out around town.
“It’s more than a stuffed animal; it’s a robotic companion,” Bailey said with genuine excitement. “It’s something that these kids can use to communicate with their caregivers. It has all these (micro-chipped) emojis that you can, like, tap on the duck’s heart and the kids can express their feelings in real time. They can communicate their pain level, things like that. It’s amazing what this duck can do, a beautiful invention.”
Called “My Special Aflac Duck,” the cuddly robotic toys also have sensors under their cheeks and wings that allow it to react when touched. It plays soundscapes for distraction therapy, comes with a miniature backpack full of replica medical equipment and even is designed with a replica chemotherapy port.
Made for Aflac by a medical empath company called Sproutel, these ducks retail for more $200 each. But thanks to Aflac and people like Bailey, they’re being provided free of charge to newly diagnosed pediatric patients across the country. CHOA has been a frequent recipient of Aflac’s generosity.
Champ and his wife, Jessica, have two boys, 14-year-old Brayden and 5-year-old Beckem. So kids fighting cancer and blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia hits them in the heart. The Champ Bailey Family Foundation has invested heavily into childhood-cancer research for many years now, Bailey said. “So, our visions are aligned (with Aflac),” he said.
In the meantime, Bailey is making a transition into media work. This season, he will provide analysis for TNT’s coverage of the Mountain West Conference football. He also will work with Zach Klein on WSB-TV’s Saturday pregame show called “SEC GameDay 2,” along with Aaron Murray and Brandon Boykin.
