Aaron Bailey (born October 24, 1971) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver for five seasons with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Bailey will be best remembered for what happened in the 1995 AFC Championship Game. Trailing the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

20–16 with time for one last play,

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

threw a

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

that was tipped by #40

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

for Pittsburgh,

Myron Bell Myron Corey "Boo" Bell (born September 15, 1971) is a former Safety in the NFL. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. He started in Super Bowl XXX. He is a member of the City of Toledo, Ohio Hall of Fame. As a teenager ...

. As Bailey was falling to the ground, the ball ended up in his arms but was knocked free by #29 Pittsburgh's

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

, Randy Fuller, but for one brief moment, the ball still ended up on the chest of Aaron Bailey, but officials ruled that Bailey dropped the ball and the Steelers advanced to

Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. Bailey attended the same high school as Harbaugh's brother and future

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

head coach,

John Harbaugh John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...

. Bailey played for the

Chicago Enforcers The Chicago Enforcers were a short-lived American football team based at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

in 2001 and in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(2001–2006). Bailey's son, Amari, committed to playing

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
1971 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Carolina Cobras players Chicago Enforcers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Indianapolis Colts players Louisville Cardinals football players New Orleans VooDoo players San Jose SaberCats players Players of American football from Ann Arbor, Michigan College of DuPage Chaparrals football players {{ULouisville-stub