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Krieger: Bailey keeps showing why he's Champ

Published August 17, 2006 at midnight

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ENGLEWOOD - A roar rose from the crowd sunning itself outside the ropes, as it does at least a dozen times a morning at Dove Valley.

Instead of dissipating in a few last ooohs and aaahs, as most of them do, this one grew, rising in pitch, as if the best float in the parade was coming down the street.

You didn't even have to look up to have a pretty good idea what it was. Roland Bailey was taking another one the other way. Everybody else's great plays produce a staccato cheer - great catch, great deflection, great whatever. It happens and it's over.

For the man named Champ by his mom out of prescient anticipation, the great play is a more drawn-out deal. There's the interception, followed by the one-handed return. This one ended in the opposite end zone, just like the one against New England in the playoffs last winter.

This one came from the arm of Jay Cutler, Quarterback Of The Future. Welcome to the NFL, son.

"You've got a young quarterback, so you've got to try to make him look bad," Champ explained afterward. "He kind of hesitated on the throw. They were running outs to that side all day, so I figured I'd sit on one."

That's how simple it is. You watch Bailey in practice and it looks like he's playing a different game. Everyone is taking a test and somehow he got the answers in advance. He sees things before they happen, not only on his side, but the other side, too. Then he shouts at safety John Lynch to tell Darrent Williams or Domonique Foxworth what he saw.

"Every year that role grows and grows," he said. "And it's funny because I don't really think about it that much. It just kind of happens naturally and then I find myself really thinking about what happened today and it's like we talked about a lot of different things and these guys really are picking my brain for a lot of things. That's why I try to stay up on my stuff and lead by example, too."

At 28, Bailey is the Broncos' best player. The question is whether a cornerback can dominate games the way other defensive playmakers can.

After all, a middle linebacker can flow to the ball no matter where it is. You can't call a play that's guaranteed to keep Brian Urlacher off the TV screen.

If a quarterback is determined not to throw at a particular cornerback, that corner has succeeded in taking the receiver he's covering out of the game. Often, he's also succeeded in taking himself out of the game. This used to happen to former Broncos cornerback Louis Wright all the time.

Still, it's not unheard of for a corner to win the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award, which suggests the type of domination the Broncos will need from Bailey to achieve their high hopes this season. I mentioned to him that Rod Woodson did it.

"And Deion (Sanders) did it," Bailey replied. Also Lester Hayes, if you want to go back far enough.

"It's definitely possible," he said. "But you know, a lot of attention goes to middle linebackers and defensive ends because they quarterback the defense in the middle and then the defensive ends rack up a lot of sacks. It's easy to get it like that."

And for a corner?

"You've got to have good numbers," Bailey said. "You can have a solid season and your peers will know about it, but the writers, whoever votes for it, they've got to see the numbers."

Which led me to ask whether he has a goal for interceptions this season.

"Double digits," he said. "It's always double digits."

Last year, Bailey had eight, a career best. His reach still exceeds his grasp, but not by much.

Some defensive stars set a tone of intimidation, but their individual hits don't necessarily turn around games. Bailey's plays are game changers.

He made one in the New England game. He just missed one in the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh. Adroit analysis aside, that may have been the difference in the two outcomes.

But a cornerback's job is to lock up his man. Asking him also to dominate games, sort of on the side, would ordinarily be a bit much.

Not for Bailey. Not if the Broncos are going as far as they hope.

In his eighth training camp, so smooth it looks as if passes are completed only with his permission, Bailey has but one motivation.

"The ring," he said. "That's it. I mean, Pro Bowls are nice, getting close is nice, but there's nothing like a ring, I guarantee it. Every guy I talk to that has one says there's no better feeling than that.

"I want to be a winner. Everything I do, if I come up short, it's a failure to me. Last season was a failure to us and I don't want that to happen again. That's a bad feeling."

It's no easy thing for a cornerback to determine the outcome of football games. But if Champ Bailey is going to live up to his name and make his mom a prophet, that's what he'll have to do.

Got some thoughts on Champ Bailey? Share them with Dave Krieger today at 11 a.m. on RockyTalk Live with Mark Wolf at www.RockyMountainNews.com.