“It’s surreal”: Champ Bailey enters Broncos’ hall .»
Champ Bailey stood at midfield amid the roar of Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday and looked up toward the east stands as a banner fell from the nameplate cementing his Broncos legacy.
“It’s surreal,” Bailey said after the ceremony. “It really hasn’t sunk in yet, because I just think about all the games I’ve played watching those names, reading them and trying to memorize them. Now mine is up there. It’s an unbelievable moment.”
Bailey, a cornerback who played the final 10 seasons of his 15-year NFL career in Denver (2004-13), was enshrined as the 33rd member of the team’s Ring of Fame on Sunday at halftime of the game against the Tennessee Titans.
He is the first Bronco to be added to the Ring of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame in the same year.
Bailey was an established star in March 2004 when Washington traded him to Denver in exchange for Broncos running back Clinton Portis. Bailey went on to earn eight of his 12 Pro Bowl berths with the Broncos, started in 132 of 135 games played and had 35 interceptions. In August, Bailey was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell was previously the team’s secondary coach for two seasons (2009-10) with Bailey.
“There are generational guys and (Bailey) is one of them,” Donatell said. “They’re going to talk about five guys for 50 years or something, and he’s in those discussions. That’s the kind of guy and rare person you’re dealing with.”