dragondawg
08-04-2007, 03:10 AM
Take your pick
When opponents throw against Broncos, they'll paint selves into a corner
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
ENGLEWOOD - They live a football life where confidence reigns supreme, where short memory is a necessary part of the vocational toolbox and where the highest compliment of all is simply to be ignored.
And from where Champ Bailey and Dré Bly are standing these days, they like the view because, they believe, quarterbacks now will have to pick one.
Bailey.
Or Bly.
"That's it, can't ignore us both," Bly said. "It's Champ or me. I like that. Think about it. I mean, I'm a big Champ fan. Any time you make seven Pro Bowls in the last eight years and make the plays he's made, you have to give the man full credit.
"And I don't really give a lot of guys a lot of credit. There are only a few guys I really admire at the position, and he's definitely one of those. So, I might be No. 2 here but I'm better than a lot of No. 1's out there, so quarterbacks can decide for themselves. I want them to come to me."
Pick one. Bailey. Or Bly.
See the Attack of the Thriller B's.
"Dré is a proven player, a Pro Bowl player, they can't just sit back and pick on him," Bailey said. "People have told me about 35 balls came my way last year. I picked 10 of them. That has to go up; they can't just throw at Dré, not with what he's done. They have to come my way, and I look forward to that."
In the wake of Darrent Williams' murder, a shaken organization had to find someone to play cornerback even as many players and coaches tried to deal with their own grief.
A deal worth making
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan thought so much of the idea of putting Bly with Bailey in the Broncos defense that he sent two starters from the 2006 offense, tackle George Foster and running back Tatum Bell, to the Detroit Lions to secure Bly.
The Broncos quickly signed Bly to a $33 million deal, and now they can line up a tandem at cornerback with 72 regular-season career interceptions.
"So, it will be interesting to see how teams will attack us," Broncos assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates said. "That's two good corners out there. You don't see two, if you're a quarterback, like those two very often."
And Bailey believes his pairing with Bly might yield big dividends in helping him achieve his top remaining career goal.
"The only thing missing for me right now is a Super Bowl," Bailey said. "I've been to Pro Bowls a lot of times. I haven't gotten Defensive Player of the Year, but things like that will come. The Super Bowl has always been at the top of my list, not even close. So this helps me, too."
Because their big mistakes usually are turned into touchdowns, top-shelf cornerbacks have no trouble swaddling themselves in confidence. That's the only way they can survive against offenses looking to isolate them and a rule book looking to make their lives more difficult in the name of more touchdowns on television.
For it all to work, Bly understands he will have to adjust from being the top corner on a struggling team, as he was for the past four seasons in Detroit, to joining a team with much higher aspirations and where that top job already is filled.
Bly said he has seen with his own eyes during the past few months how the secondary can be the strength of the Broncos defense.
"I've always heard how great of an athlete he was," Bly said of Bailey. "How great an athlete he is. But you
really can't acknowledge it or give full credit until you see it for yourself. When I got here and saw how smooth he is, how he's just so relaxed, how when he's out there playing, the things he does, it's unbelievable."
But it's Bly who now will find himself locked on to an offense's No. 2 receiver much of the time, simply because he is across from Bailey.
And while some scouts in the league consider Bly "a guesser," a risk taker, there is no denying he has intercepted six passes in a season three times in his career and has at least three interceptions in seven of his eight previous seasons.
He also has forced 16 career fumbles - by comparison, Bailey has forced four in his career - and has five interception returns for touchdowns.
"People say I guess - that's crazy," Bly said. "Nobody intercepted more balls than I intercepted in college (an Atlantic Coast Conference record 20 at North Carolina). I did it from Day 1, but when you make plays, when you're successful, when you walk with a strut, you're confident that's what they're going to say, that you guess a lot.
"I've been telling people, if I'm guessing, I'm a damn good guesser. I need to go to Vegas. I'll take that criticism any day of the week. I'm productive, I'm successful."
Increasing numbers
Bailey is coming off a 2006 season in which he had a career-high 10 interceptions, pushing his three-season total in Denver to 21.
And in the two previous seasons that Bob Slowik coached the team's secondary, and pushed for more zone coverage so the defensive backs could see the play in front of them and break on the ball, Bailey has 18 - or 46 percent - of his career 39 interceptions.
He also has been credited with 28 passes defensed in 2005 and a career- high 30 last season.
"A lot of things happen that I just can't explain to you," Bailey said. "I've seen a lot, been through it, been beaten on a lot of plays, made a lot of plays. I've just seen it, I remember it. Sometimes I don't know how I do what I do, I just try to do what needs to be done."
So, that's the choice for opposing passers.
Bailey.
Or Bly.
"People ask me all the time, what would I be doing if I didn't play football," Bailey said. "My answer is, 'I don't know.' This is what I've done since I was 8 years old, all I've wanted to do. I've put a lot into this. I'm going to cherish these moments as long as I can, and I will play as long as I can, until they run me up out of here."
And Bly will cherish the opportunity to team with Bailey and the Broncos.
"I've gone from the bottom of the barrel to the cream of the crop to come to this situation," Bly said. "I'm back with a winning organization with high expectations. I never lost passion for the game, but when you practice every day, you want to know you have a shot to win the big game. You don't want to just be dreaming about it, you want to know it. Here, with Champ, I know we have a shot."
Dynamic duos
Champ Bailey and Dré Bly have 72 regular-season career interceptions combined. Only one team in the league has two cornerbacks with more interceptions than that - Kansas City.
• Kansas City (84) Ty Law (50)* Patrick Surtain (34)
• DENVER (72) Champ Bailey (39) Dré Bly (33)
• Tampa Bay (51) Ronde Barber (31) Brian Kelly (20)
• Baltimore (49) Chris McAlister (22) Samari Rolle (27)
• New York Giants (47) Sam Madison (33) R.W. McQuarters (14)
• Washington (46) Shawn Springs (27) Fred Smoot (19)
• Green Bay (42) Al Harris (17) Charles Woodson (25)
• Jacksonville (33) Rashean Mathis (20) Brian Williams (13)
• San Francisco (28) Nate Clements (23) Shawntae Spencer (5)
*NFL active leader
Bailey and Bly: side by side
How the two Broncos cornerbacks stack up:
CHAMP BAILEY
• Birth date: June 22, 1978.
• Birthplace: Folkston, Ga.
• High school: Charlton County High School, Folkston, where he was a Class-A all-state selection in football while earning USA Today honorable mention All-America honors and second-team all-south accolades.
• College: Georgia.
• Acquired: Trade (Washington), 2004.
• Etc.: All-state honorable mention selection in basketball and the state high jump champion as a junior. . . . Has a younger brother, Boss, who was an All-America linebacker at Georgia and selected by the Lions in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft. . . . Roland is his given first name, but he was nicknamed "Champ" by his mother. . . . First back-to-back winner of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame's Pro Athlete of the Year award (2005-06).
DRÉ BLY
• Birth date: May 22, 1977.
• Birthplace: Chesapeake, Va.
• High school: Western Branch High School, Chesapeake, where he was an all-Tidewater, all-city, all-Eastern region, all-state and all-district selection as a senior.
• College: North Carolina.
• Acquired: Trade (Detroit), 2007.
• Etc.: Full name is Donald Andre Bly. . . . The son of two teachers. . . . Married (Kristyn) with three sons (Trey, Jordan and Aaron) and a daughter (Peyton). . . . Established the Dré Bly Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to improve education through physical excellence. . . . Helps raise money with events including the Dré Bly Celebrity Golf Classic. . . . A sports science major at North Carolina, where he also played center field for the baseball team. . . . Selected by St. Louis in the second round (41st overall) of the 1999 NFL draft.
Tale of the tape in the NFL, including regular-season statistics:
Bailey Category Bly
24 Number 32
6-0 Height 5-10
192 Weight 188
29 Age 30
9th Season 9th
7 Pro Bowl 2
3 All-Pro (first team) 0
126 Starts 79
39 Interceptions 33
167 Passes defensed 135
4 Forced fumbles 16
5 Fumble recoveries 8
610 Total tackles 404
513 Solo tackles 318
1-12 Sacks-yards 3-21
4 Touchdowns 7
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5658983,00.html
When opponents throw against Broncos, they'll paint selves into a corner
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
ENGLEWOOD - They live a football life where confidence reigns supreme, where short memory is a necessary part of the vocational toolbox and where the highest compliment of all is simply to be ignored.
And from where Champ Bailey and Dré Bly are standing these days, they like the view because, they believe, quarterbacks now will have to pick one.
Bailey.
Or Bly.
"That's it, can't ignore us both," Bly said. "It's Champ or me. I like that. Think about it. I mean, I'm a big Champ fan. Any time you make seven Pro Bowls in the last eight years and make the plays he's made, you have to give the man full credit.
"And I don't really give a lot of guys a lot of credit. There are only a few guys I really admire at the position, and he's definitely one of those. So, I might be No. 2 here but I'm better than a lot of No. 1's out there, so quarterbacks can decide for themselves. I want them to come to me."
Pick one. Bailey. Or Bly.
See the Attack of the Thriller B's.
"Dré is a proven player, a Pro Bowl player, they can't just sit back and pick on him," Bailey said. "People have told me about 35 balls came my way last year. I picked 10 of them. That has to go up; they can't just throw at Dré, not with what he's done. They have to come my way, and I look forward to that."
In the wake of Darrent Williams' murder, a shaken organization had to find someone to play cornerback even as many players and coaches tried to deal with their own grief.
A deal worth making
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan thought so much of the idea of putting Bly with Bailey in the Broncos defense that he sent two starters from the 2006 offense, tackle George Foster and running back Tatum Bell, to the Detroit Lions to secure Bly.
The Broncos quickly signed Bly to a $33 million deal, and now they can line up a tandem at cornerback with 72 regular-season career interceptions.
"So, it will be interesting to see how teams will attack us," Broncos assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates said. "That's two good corners out there. You don't see two, if you're a quarterback, like those two very often."
And Bailey believes his pairing with Bly might yield big dividends in helping him achieve his top remaining career goal.
"The only thing missing for me right now is a Super Bowl," Bailey said. "I've been to Pro Bowls a lot of times. I haven't gotten Defensive Player of the Year, but things like that will come. The Super Bowl has always been at the top of my list, not even close. So this helps me, too."
Because their big mistakes usually are turned into touchdowns, top-shelf cornerbacks have no trouble swaddling themselves in confidence. That's the only way they can survive against offenses looking to isolate them and a rule book looking to make their lives more difficult in the name of more touchdowns on television.
For it all to work, Bly understands he will have to adjust from being the top corner on a struggling team, as he was for the past four seasons in Detroit, to joining a team with much higher aspirations and where that top job already is filled.
Bly said he has seen with his own eyes during the past few months how the secondary can be the strength of the Broncos defense.
"I've always heard how great of an athlete he was," Bly said of Bailey. "How great an athlete he is. But you
really can't acknowledge it or give full credit until you see it for yourself. When I got here and saw how smooth he is, how he's just so relaxed, how when he's out there playing, the things he does, it's unbelievable."
But it's Bly who now will find himself locked on to an offense's No. 2 receiver much of the time, simply because he is across from Bailey.
And while some scouts in the league consider Bly "a guesser," a risk taker, there is no denying he has intercepted six passes in a season three times in his career and has at least three interceptions in seven of his eight previous seasons.
He also has forced 16 career fumbles - by comparison, Bailey has forced four in his career - and has five interception returns for touchdowns.
"People say I guess - that's crazy," Bly said. "Nobody intercepted more balls than I intercepted in college (an Atlantic Coast Conference record 20 at North Carolina). I did it from Day 1, but when you make plays, when you're successful, when you walk with a strut, you're confident that's what they're going to say, that you guess a lot.
"I've been telling people, if I'm guessing, I'm a damn good guesser. I need to go to Vegas. I'll take that criticism any day of the week. I'm productive, I'm successful."
Increasing numbers
Bailey is coming off a 2006 season in which he had a career-high 10 interceptions, pushing his three-season total in Denver to 21.
And in the two previous seasons that Bob Slowik coached the team's secondary, and pushed for more zone coverage so the defensive backs could see the play in front of them and break on the ball, Bailey has 18 - or 46 percent - of his career 39 interceptions.
He also has been credited with 28 passes defensed in 2005 and a career- high 30 last season.
"A lot of things happen that I just can't explain to you," Bailey said. "I've seen a lot, been through it, been beaten on a lot of plays, made a lot of plays. I've just seen it, I remember it. Sometimes I don't know how I do what I do, I just try to do what needs to be done."
So, that's the choice for opposing passers.
Bailey.
Or Bly.
"People ask me all the time, what would I be doing if I didn't play football," Bailey said. "My answer is, 'I don't know.' This is what I've done since I was 8 years old, all I've wanted to do. I've put a lot into this. I'm going to cherish these moments as long as I can, and I will play as long as I can, until they run me up out of here."
And Bly will cherish the opportunity to team with Bailey and the Broncos.
"I've gone from the bottom of the barrel to the cream of the crop to come to this situation," Bly said. "I'm back with a winning organization with high expectations. I never lost passion for the game, but when you practice every day, you want to know you have a shot to win the big game. You don't want to just be dreaming about it, you want to know it. Here, with Champ, I know we have a shot."
Dynamic duos
Champ Bailey and Dré Bly have 72 regular-season career interceptions combined. Only one team in the league has two cornerbacks with more interceptions than that - Kansas City.
• Kansas City (84) Ty Law (50)* Patrick Surtain (34)
• DENVER (72) Champ Bailey (39) Dré Bly (33)
• Tampa Bay (51) Ronde Barber (31) Brian Kelly (20)
• Baltimore (49) Chris McAlister (22) Samari Rolle (27)
• New York Giants (47) Sam Madison (33) R.W. McQuarters (14)
• Washington (46) Shawn Springs (27) Fred Smoot (19)
• Green Bay (42) Al Harris (17) Charles Woodson (25)
• Jacksonville (33) Rashean Mathis (20) Brian Williams (13)
• San Francisco (28) Nate Clements (23) Shawntae Spencer (5)
*NFL active leader
Bailey and Bly: side by side
How the two Broncos cornerbacks stack up:
CHAMP BAILEY
• Birth date: June 22, 1978.
• Birthplace: Folkston, Ga.
• High school: Charlton County High School, Folkston, where he was a Class-A all-state selection in football while earning USA Today honorable mention All-America honors and second-team all-south accolades.
• College: Georgia.
• Acquired: Trade (Washington), 2004.
• Etc.: All-state honorable mention selection in basketball and the state high jump champion as a junior. . . . Has a younger brother, Boss, who was an All-America linebacker at Georgia and selected by the Lions in the second round of the 2003 NFL draft. . . . Roland is his given first name, but he was nicknamed "Champ" by his mother. . . . First back-to-back winner of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame's Pro Athlete of the Year award (2005-06).
DRÉ BLY
• Birth date: May 22, 1977.
• Birthplace: Chesapeake, Va.
• High school: Western Branch High School, Chesapeake, where he was an all-Tidewater, all-city, all-Eastern region, all-state and all-district selection as a senior.
• College: North Carolina.
• Acquired: Trade (Detroit), 2007.
• Etc.: Full name is Donald Andre Bly. . . . The son of two teachers. . . . Married (Kristyn) with three sons (Trey, Jordan and Aaron) and a daughter (Peyton). . . . Established the Dré Bly Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to improve education through physical excellence. . . . Helps raise money with events including the Dré Bly Celebrity Golf Classic. . . . A sports science major at North Carolina, where he also played center field for the baseball team. . . . Selected by St. Louis in the second round (41st overall) of the 1999 NFL draft.
Tale of the tape in the NFL, including regular-season statistics:
Bailey Category Bly
24 Number 32
6-0 Height 5-10
192 Weight 188
29 Age 30
9th Season 9th
7 Pro Bowl 2
3 All-Pro (first team) 0
126 Starts 79
39 Interceptions 33
167 Passes defensed 135
4 Forced fumbles 16
5 Fumble recoveries 8
610 Total tackles 404
513 Solo tackles 318
1-12 Sacks-yards 3-21
4 Touchdowns 7
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5658983,00.html