Goodbye, Champ

Written by John Edward Betancourt

I still remember the 2006 AFC Divisional Playoff Game that took place at what was once known as Invesco Field at Mile High.  The mighty New England Patriots had come to town to face the Denver Broncos.  There was talk of the Patriots being the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row, and during the game in Denver, they looked sharp.  But that's about all I remember from that game, for two reasons.  For one, the Broncos ended the Patriots hopes at the Three-peat, beating them 23-17 before going on to lose to the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, and because sometimes the events of a game are forgotten by one incredible play.  

This was the night that one player made Tom Brady appear to be human.  This was the night that one man brought down the team that seemed to be unstoppable.  That man, was Cornerback Champ Bailey.  The Patriots were in the Red Zone, threatening to score against the Broncos.  Brady dropped back to pass and fired off the ball when suddenly, there was #24, scooping the ball out of the sky and taking off toward the opposite end zone.  He almost made it too, had it not been for a meddling tight end that tackled Champ on the two yard line.  But the damage had been done.  The momentum had shifted and the Patriots season came to an end, all because of Champ Bailey.  

That was the kind of play that Champ Bailey brought to the field for so long and that is why it makes his departure from the Denver Broncos this last week, so bittersweet.  Champ left everything out on the field for the Broncos and sadly saw his contract terminated ten years after a blockbuster trade brought him to the Mile High City.  

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This is a tough one.  Because in many ways, you want to see a better ending for #24.  You want to see him in the orange and blue, confetti raining down around him as he hoists the Lombardi Trophy.  Instead his lone trip to the Super Bowl was full of missed tackles and that look of defeat that everyone in orange and blue had that fateful day in February.  Yet clearly it was time. Injuries or no, Champ was a far cry from the player who was flying down the field in 2006 in the playoffs.  He was getting burned for the first time.  Ironically enough, he made a player that appeared to be invincible, look human, and wide receivers in two straight years of playoffs did the same to him.  

It's not always a happy ending in the NFL.  This is certainly not one of them.  But regardless of how it ended, Champ will always be a Bronco and one of the best to ever play the game.  I can only wish him well on his new journey, and thank him for everything he has done for this team and this town.  That's what made this article so hard to write.  I don't want to say goodbye to the Champ, but that's not my choice.  But we can certainly hope that he gets a chance to say goodbye the right way.  Not with headlines and Sportscenter alerts letting us know that he has been released.  But in a suit and tie, standing at the podium at Dove Valley, having signed his final contract...to retire as a Denver Bronco.  

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