On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs acknowledged the passing of former player Allen Bailey, who tragically passed away Tuesday night at the age of 37. The former NFL defensive lineman who played eight seasons in Kansas City was found dead by his wife, with no official cause of death as of this writing.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid coached Bailey from 2013 to 2018, and remembered him fondly when he began his weekly press conference Wednesday.
“Sad news: the passing of Allen Bailey. Our hearts go out to his family, and prayers are with them,” Reid said. “Too young, obviously. One of my favorite players. Great kid, just sad to see that happen to him.”
Bailey was born on Sapelo Island, an island off the coast of George “accessible only by boat,” according to Men’s Journal. He learned football through pickup games with the family, but didn’t play it in an organized way until the seventh grade.
The Chiefs produced a video about Bailey’s hometown, “Allen Bailey: Pride of Sapelo Island.” You can watch it here.
Bailey’s humble beginnings came through in his character.
“A good man,” Reid remembered. “I’m driving every morning… I’ll see a possum. He’s a big hunter; I’ll say, ‘I saw a possum outside.’ He goes, ‘Don’t eat the possums. They eat garbage. You’ve got to get the chestnuts eaters,’” Reid shared with a laugh.
“He’s that type of guy: an outsider, and then he’s tough. Talk about giving you an honest down, he gave you an honest one every snap.”
He was eventually recruited by the University of Miami, committed to play for the Hurricanes, and was a first-team all-conference player before being drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He finished his 10-year professional career with 70 starts, 22 sacks, 40 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.
By the time quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived in Kansas City, the 6-foot-3-inch, 288-pound Bailey — nicknamed “The Hulk” as a freshman at Miami — was an established 28-year-old veteran who had left an early mark on the young gunslinger from Texas Tech.
“I tell this kind of story every year; he’s the first guy I see when I walk into the locker room,” Mahomes shared with local media on Wednesday. “I think it was after one of the drafts, they were in OTAs, and I walked into the locker room and I saw Allen Bailey, and I was like, ‘This isn’t the Big 12 anymore.’ It was great to see him, so I tell that story every year.”
Bailey finished his career with two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, the closest team to his birthplace, Sapelo Island.
“It was scary to hear the news that we heard,” Mahomes continued. “He’s a great teammate, one of the glue guys on the team. He makes plays, but not necessarily the superstar, but the guy who does everything.”