Reduced role with Bombers no bother to Bailey

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This article was published 16/08/2023 (757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rasheed Bailey knew what he was signing up for.

He was unlikely to have a career year in 2023 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when Kenny Lawler was added in the offseason to what was already a stacked receiving corps featuring Dalton Schoen, Nic Demski, and Drew Wolitarsky.

It didn’t stop the 30-year-old Philadelphia product from agreeing to a massive pay cut and re-signing with the club, but now midway through the season, Bailey is feeling the impact of his decision.

Despite coming off of his most productive game of the year with five catches for 85 yards in last week’s 38-29 victory over the Edmonton Elks, Bailey is on pace for career lows across the board.

Has it been easy? No, no it hasn’t. But that doesn’t mean he’s complaining.

Bailey and the Bombers (7-2) return to Alberta this week to take on the Calgary Stampeders (3-6) on Friday.

“To put it into words, it’s been a blessing. It goes back to sacrifice. It goes back to why I’m truly here,” Bailey told the Free Press after Wednesday’s closed practice.

“I think in order to win a championship, sometimes you got to do a role or be in a role that you don’t want to be in per se all the time. Like I don’t want to be blocking all the time. I want to catch passes down the field, but in order to win a championship, I know it’s going to take all of us.”

Bailey enjoyed his best season as a pro in 2022 as he caught 63 balls for 729 yards and nine touchdowns. Through the first nine games of the current campaign, he has 25 catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Two weeks ago against the B.C. Lions, Bailey had zero receptions. He also has two games this season where he was held to one catch.

But when quarterback Zach Collaros isn’t looking Bailey’s way, the pass catcher isn’t afraid to do the dirty work. Since arriving in Winnipeg in 2019, Bailey has established himself as one of the best blocking receivers in the three-down game.

“I’m the tone setter on offence. Sometimes it can be frustrating at times because you want to get the ball in your hands. But it makes me play harder when I don’t have the ball,” said Bailey.

“A lot of people wonder ‘Why is he acting like that? Why is he playing hard?’ Sometimes I’m doing that because I really want the ball. People don’t really know that, but it’s in me to be who I am. But when I’m not getting that ball, I’m really taking it out on the defence. And it’s a good thing. It’s a positive thing that’s always going to be beneficial to the team.”

“Off the field, nicest guy in the world, sweetest guy in the world, like a very deep, sentimental person. But on the field, you see his background of where he grew up.”–Drew Wolitarsky

It’s not a glamorous skill that will get you on Sportscentre, but it is an important one, and one Bailey feels he’s been working at his entire life.

“A lot of people don’t know that I was a defensive player first. When I was in high school, my junior year I only had one catch (as a tight end), but I started on defence and played defensive end. Where I’m from in Philly, you always got your top three or top five biggest hitters on the team, and no matter what team I was on, I was always top three or top five,” said Bailey, who transitioned to receiver at Div. III Delaware Valley University.

“It goes back to when I first started playing football. I had a styrofoam football and it was green and yellow. I’ll never forget it. We took a family trip (to Maryland), like one of my only family trips that we took when I was a kid, and I remember that styrofoam football that we used to throw around and I was like diving on cement. I was doing crazy stuff. I’ve been doing everything that I do out there since I was a kid.”

Bailey’s playstyle, and unselfishness, has quickly garnered him a lot of respect in the locker room.

“He’s from Philly, bro. He’s a tough guy,” said receiver Drew Wolitarsky.

“Off the field, nicest guy in the world, sweetest guy in the world, like a very deep, sentimental person. But on the field, you see his background of where he grew up. He’s a tough guy, he grew up in a tough community and it changed him. It made him who he is and he likes to hit. He’s that kind of player, that’s his style. Once we’re on that field, he flips a switch.”

Collaros update

According to head coach Mike O’Shea, Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros did not participate in Wednesday’s closed practice at IG Field.

O’Shea would not provide any further update than that.

Collaros is nursing a minor neck injury from last week’s game in Edmonton.

While he wasn’t on the field, the star pivot was in the weight room with teammates shortly after practice.

Bombers set to battle an old friend

Stampeders defensive back Nick Taylor will get to play his old team for the first time on Friday. Taylor was on the six-game injured list when the Bombers and Stamps met at IG Field back in Week 5.

At the time, Taylor, 35, was still recovering from a season-ending Achilles injury he suffered in Week 14 last year. The veteran from Miami played three seasons in Winnipeg and has now suited up for Calgary in their past three games.

“He’s like a brother to me. We talk all the time, I was literally just texting him now,” said Bombers defensive back Demerio Houston, the CFL’s leader in interceptions with six.

“He was definitely a voice in the backfield for us, so that was definitely a loss for us. We’ve had to pick it up, and I think it made me more vocal with him leaving. Somebody had to step up and be vocal, so, I’m not the most vocal on the team, but I’m definitely stepping into a role of being more vocal.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.