Boss Bailey

Rodney "Boss" Bailey (born October 14, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was originally selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football at the University of Georgia. He is the brother of Hall of Fame NFL cornerback Champ Bailey.

Early life Bailey was born in Folkston, Georgia. He received honorable mention All-America honors from USA Today at Charlton County High School in Folkston Georgia.

College career Bailey was a three-year starter at Georgia. As a senior, he was a first-team All-SEC selection as well as a semifinalist for the Butkus and Lombardi Awards.

Professional career

Bailey appeared in 58 career games (51 starts), posting 265 tackles (204 solo), seven sacks (40.5 yds.) and two interceptions (32 yds.). He also registered 13 pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and seven special-teams tackles for his career.

Detroit Lions He was named All-Rookie by ESPN.com and Football Digest with Detroit in 2003 when he set a career-high with 88 tackles (77 solo) as a 16-game starter. After missing the 2004 season with a knee injury, Bailey started all 11 games played in 2005 and had 58 tackles, one sack and one interception, which he returned 34 yards for a touchdown. He started eight games at strongside linebacker and four contests at middle linebacker for the Lions in 2006, appearing in all 16 games and totaling 67 tackles (51 solo) with one sack that year. In 2007, Bailey posted a career-high 3.5 sacks (16.0 yds.) while adding 51 tackles (37 solo), two pass breakups and one forced fumble in 15 games (12 starts) at strongside linebacker for Detroit.

Denver Broncos On March 6, 2008, Boss signed a five-year contract worth $17.5 million that included $8 million in guarantees over the first two seasons. Bailey was released on June 17, 2009.

NFL career statistics Year Team GP Tackles Fumbles Interceptions Comb Solo Ast Sck FF FR Yds Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD 2003 DET 16 88 68 20 1.5 0 1 0 1 -2 -2 -2 0 6 2005 DET 11 59 39 20 1.0 0 0 0 1 34 34 34 1 3 2006 DET 16 67 51 16 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2007 DET 15 51 37 14 3.5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2008 DEN 6 40 31 9 0.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Career 64 305 226 79 7.0 2 2 0 2 32 16 34 1 13