In 2015, Rams receiver Stedman Bailey was shot in the head. It nearly ended his life, and certainly ended his football career -- or so everyone thought at the time.
In 2018, Bailey is doing so well that he wants to get back in the NFL. Toward that end, he worked out at Marshall’s Pro Day on Wednesday, hoping some NFL scout would like what he sees enough to offer him a contract.
“I know a lot of teams probably remember me and what type of player I was at the time,” Bailey told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch. “I’m trying to prove that I am still that guy and probably even better. It’s all about proving it and capitalizing on the opportunities that are given to me.”
Bailey said he had surgery to put a plate in his skull and thinks that has strengthened his head so much that he’s probably less susceptible to suffering a brain injury on the field now than he was before he was shot.
After spending time working with the coaching staffs of both the Rams and his alma mater, West Virginia, Bailey believes he hasn’t lost anything mentally, and he says he’s in great shape physically. Now the 27-year-old just wants some team to give him a chance to finish his career on his own terms.