Dawg of the Week: The Boss

This week's Dawg up for discussion is Rodney \"Boss\" Bailey.

Now, Boss was never as widely hailed as his older brother Champ, but he holds a special place in my heart as a member of that 2002 SEC Championship team. I remember every game thinking that if it came down to a field goal or an extra point for the other team to beat us, I wasn't worried. Boss would just jump up and knock that sucker down! In 2002 alone, Boss set the UGA record for most field goals blocked with three. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after the Clemson game and was an overall team captain.

In 2003 Boss was drafted by the Detroit Lions and had a career-high 88 tackles, starting all 16 games and being named to Football Digest's and ESPN.com's All-Rookie teams. Though he missed the 2004 season with a knee injury, Boss had three more productive seasons in Detroit before becoming one half of the third tandem of brothers to play for the Denver Broncos, signing there in March 2008 to play with big brother Champ.

Here's the place for your memories of Boss Bailey! Speak loud and often, Dawg nation!

Sorry I'm late w/my Dawg of the Week reply but I tried to post on Sunday night from my hotel room and the internet wouldn't behave.

Great choice here dapolla. I got lots of love for Boss Bailey!

Boss was one of my favorite defenders ever to don the Red & Black. He played the game the way every Junkyard Dawg should play it...ALL OUT on EVERY SNAP!

It really seemed like Boss defied gravity on all of those blocked kicks didn't it? I remember the 1st time I saw Boss skyrocket to block a kick I thought to myself; he must have gotten away w/one and actually jumped off another one of the D-lineman's back to get up that high. After watching the replay I realized, this guy had some serious hops.

Now, I don't know his official stats for this particular game but at my personal, all-time favorite UGA game that I attended in person, the Miracle on the Plains played at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 16, 2002, Boss Bailey had one heck of a ball game. Every Georgia fan (and Auburn fan for that matter) will always remember the play called 70-X-Takeoff, when Greene found Johnson in the back corner of the endzone on 4th down w/less than 1:30 left on the game clock but it was truly the Dawgs Defense that won the game, AND the SEC East title that cold Autumn day.

After giving up a TD midway through the 3rd quarter, the Dawgs defense completely STYMIED the Auburn offense for the remainder of the game. Incredibly, the Georgia defense held Auburn to SIX (6) STRAIGHT 3 AND OUTS during the last 20 minutes of the ball game (wish we could do that again this year???) and Boss seemingly made big play after big play whether it be a tackle, a QB pressure, or a batted down ball. Anyways, on Auburn's final drive after UGA took their 1st and only lead on that miraculous 4th down pass, I vividly remember Boss just coming through the Tigers O-line and absolutely CRUSHING Auburn QB Jason Campbell. Although it wasn't 4th down yet, that HUGE sack by Boss sealed the victory for all intensive purposes. At that very moment I felt 100% certain that our beloved Dawgs were heading to Atlanta for our 1st ever SEC Championship Game.

After the Auburn game Boss was quoted saying,

\"It is the best feeling I have ever had in competition in my life. This is what I came to Georgia for -- to win championships!\"


Lastly, Boss Bailey HAS to be my favorite all-time name for a Georgia football player. I believe this was mentioned when wlayton got himself a new bulldog earlier this year but w/o a doubt, if I am ever fortunate enough to own a bulldog, I will simply call him BOSS.

Great post Goose...welcome back.