Champ Bailey says Shedeur Sanders is the real deal | The Zach Gelb Show

Champ Bailey who joins us today on behalf of the Champ Bailey Family Foundation helping children through mental health wellness and educational programs and on Tuesday champ visited the children's healthc care of Atlanta to meet with pediatric patients battling cancer champ appreciate the time as always thanks so much for doing this and how you been my pleasure Zach great to see you um I've been great man you know just just trying to do my part in this world well you're in the penthouse now you know that with the the college football school that you played for in Georgia man I know they didn't make the playoff last year but two national championships before that and everyone's uh kind of feeling like they're going to go get one again this year how about your alma mater I tell you what man we all know last year we should have had a chance right so we do have a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth so to speak so I'm I'm I'm anxious to see where we start out you know Clemson's not a walkover program right top 15 team we got our hands full but these boys are ready I think we we like I say we we got one stolen from us and here we are we got a chance to win three out of uh the last four years I'm just looking forward to it yeah do you like this 12 team college football playoff format CU personally I thought for most years four was the right number and if they were going to expand it maybe only go to six or eight 12 seems like a pretty big jump it is it it is I think when you look on paper I mean that's three times times of size right if my math is right but in reality man you want to get more teams in it it creates more excitement you actually have the top teams there's no doubt you have the top teams at at that point I think what's going to get gray is you know the automatic bids and the the bye and you know people are going to argue okay this team lost one game this team lost four but they won their conference you know so it's it's going to be that's going to be the major argument in my mind but I like the 12 teams it's good point that you bring up because I was talking about this a few weeks ago it's like all right you know the Big 10 the SEC winner are going to be deserving of a top four seed but then inside the ACC or the Big 12 like there could be a team that's fifth or six that's more deserving of getting that by but they didn't win their conference Championship and it also doesn't make sense to me how you say all right the four highest ranked Conference champions get a buy but then the other school that gets in and wins their conference Championship uh they could be seated anywhere you you want so I think there there's going to be some things this year that this you look at the teams and you're like the top four seeds may not be the best four teams in college football yeah I I think we're starting off right right like I think the 12 teams is a legitimate way to go about it and you you make a good point there will be those teams but we have to start somewhere we all know we're going to evolve and this thing is probably going to go to a straight ranking system sort of like the NFL so it's not it's not so much you know winning your conference you know that's that's going to be the thing later on because I in my opinion I think all these conferences are going to disappear to some degree and maybe we have two major but you know that's just me no I I think you're on to something we already saw the Pack 12 uh go away and it seems like the big 10 in the SEC are the halves and everyone else is in the have not so the future of college football uh is definitely fascinating and we start off on Saturday right Georgia going up against Clemson I think Georgia is going to win the game champ ba but you look at Clemson they're there we all know what they've done with dbos Sweeney when in two national championships but it's a new era of college football and he's kind of been stubborn and adapting and I just want to see how much of a difference there still is between Georgia and Clemson I think there's going to be a pretty big one um on Saturday yeah you know we're loaded they're loaded and it and it's really going to come down to the same thing with these top teams what happens in the trenches and you can talk about Dabo not adapting as as well as some other programs well davo still won 10 10 games the past 20 years or whatever you know he's been there forever but the past 15 years he's won 20 game of 10 games so it's not like he's not an effective and consistent coach it's just now there's so much turnover but he does have some consistency at the quarterback position finally and you know that interior is always always been Elite among other programs so you can't sleep on these teams especially this Clemson team Champ Bailey here with us let me get to some of your NFL teams and we'll talk about your foundation in just a bit I'll start you off with the Broncos uh Shawn ends up taking Bo Knicks with the 12th overall pick what are your expectations is he's going to be starting week one for Denver well you know it's hard to have high expectations for a rookie right this but I feel like this kid is he's got something thing now he's going to have some bumps in the road it's all about how he handles th those adverse situations you know the turnovers early does he bounce back in that game or does he wait the next week and and make up for that but for me I think they made the right choice with him I don't want to go overboard because I've seen the track record of rookie quarterbacks but they do have a good core around him great offensive line the defense looks like they're coming into their own so I I would say after four weeks I love to sit back reevaluate where they could go from there and when you start with the Broncos I know we all talk about the coach and the quarterback but the best player on the roster is Patrick certan you being a Hall of Fame defensive back what have you seen so far with Pat certan exactly what I expect it this this kid is the best in the game right now when he came out of college I said he has a pro football hall of fame potential like that's that's the lofty goals I set for him because you look at his body type his style of play a technician plays hard loves the game it's everything that you would want in a football player forget position just a football player he is that and now he's an Elite corner with the way he plays the game there is no doubt in my mind he'll continue to excel I expect him to go to as many pro bowls as I did be a first ballot Hall of Famer all these things all he has to do is stay healthy and that's the only thing that can get in his way because when he plays he's the best why do you put Pat over s Gardner because that's always a big debate on who's the best corner in the league well I I just I watch him more closely right uh I haven't watched a lot of salce Gardner he's very effective very good Corner love his game I mean he's in my top three for sure but it's just something about Pat's game I I I sort of I might be a little biased there you know being that he's Dawning that Bronco helmet but this guy is Bar None the best I you can make an argument for salson no doubt about it but I think Pat ste's at the top let me get also to the commanders I know when you played they were called the the Redskins they also have a new quarterback and Jaden Daniels who won a Heisman Trophy at LSU Daniel Snyder no longer the owner there with Josh Harris uh coming in uh I don't know how much you've been able to see of of Jaden Daniels but but how about uh him and what he brings with not only able to run the ball but also have a big time arm as well I think that's always a bonus for a Young quarterback to be able to use his legs because he's not going to see everything clearly you know starting out the gate this kid is unique I mean he's fast he can run but he throws with the best of them I mean it sort of reminds me a little Lamar Jackson maybe not as great a runner but effective enough that you have to worry about it and we all know like you look at the quarterback landscape today most these guys are very mobile very accurate and can do a lot of things well so as I've seen the quarterback position evolve he fits into that M so this the league is set up right for him defense coordinators definitely got their hands full talking about defensive coordinators the biggest question in the league Champ Bailey is how do people try to slow down Patrick Mahomes even when he's not at his best they still find a way to win back-to-back Super Bowls if you were going up against Patrick Mahomes kind of take me through how you would try to game plan as uh we know not only in just the AFC West but everyone in the league is chasing Patrick Mahomes number 15 of the Chiefs yeah here the thing with him you got to make him work for it and what I you can't give up the Deep ball you you can't allow him to scramble for first downs it's wining those situations that matter the third Downs the fourth Downs you got to get off the field because what happens when they stay on the field now that run game gets going he has Pacho back there who's very effective so it's it's the people around him that he can utilize but you gotta quit giving him opportunities to do it get off on third down you nullify their offense wrap it up with Champ Bailey uh right now before we let you run tell me a little bit about your foundation and the great work that you're doing well my Foundation we we do a lot with kids you know from a mental and physical health standpoint you know a lot of my work has been done in my hometown of folks in Georgia and I continue to do a lot there but you know my best partner to date has been afflac and it's the most recent but what I saw them do at the Cancer and blood disorder Center it is I mean it's nothing short of amazing you know you walk into that building you walk into those rooms that those kids that are dealing with illnesses that they didn't decide this this life for themselves but you see their perseverance their their their at least enthusiasm you know I walk into one room and there's this kid he just come out of surgery and we hand him the special afflac duck it's a robot I mean he and he just puts his thumb up and the act like like President Virgil Miller looks at me and says man he got his thumb up you know I'm I'm like he can barely open his eyes but you can feel that energy the kid just wants to be a kid and I leave their more inspired by them than I do for them I I know they inspire me more than I Inspire them I they have to because I mean it's it's hard not to get te out when you see them in those conditions and the parents the energy from the parents I just try to feed off them you know they're the ones dealing with it every day and they sit there and they smile when we walk in they don't have to do that and they know sharing their stories with us and allowing us to be a part of it only if fect somebody else across the country dealing with the same thing and you know I I got to give it to them all the caregivers and what athle has done at that at that center it's it's amazing you know Ju Just wondering obviously when you were playing there was a lot of opportunities to give back I know you still have the platform even when your career is over but you still want to go out of your way to give back even when you're not as much in the spotlight as you once were which I think you know speaks to who you are as a person why do you still feel as if okay Champ Bailey it's still important even after your playing days to keep on using your platform and giving on back you know it I honestly don't have a perfect answer for you I I I just I feed off the people that inspire me the most and and I could speak that that about my grandmother like what she did Growing Up and I had no idea the impact she was having on her community taking in homeless you know having a a neighborhood store she was so business savvy and understanding what it meant to give back without asking for much in return like it's this is who I am I mean she's in my DNA I just want to be half as good as she was at giving back and she was the epitome of what it meant to be a giver and if people when I leave this earth and people say that about me I'll be happy happy with that before we let your run Champ Bailey I got to bring up uh Dion Sanders coach Prime who was a teammate of yours for one season big game tonight yeah yeah up against North Dakota State what was it like when coach Prime you being a younger player in the league at the time was was a teammate of yours you have no idea like I'm I'm my rookie year I got D green and then the second year I still got Dale green But Here Comes Deion Sanders oh my God you got to think three of us on the field every game that year the moment they signed him my first question was oh my God what am I going to do am I starting I started my rookie year I didn't think that I was better than these guys at that point but the coach M assured me that I was still gonna start somebody else is coming off the bench but so we worked that out but man these guys taught me so much and then when darl when Dion left after that first year I still had Daryl two more years Daryl green two more years so I got a lot of good nuggets from those guys and they inspire me to get back even more than they did because I know how that impacted my game and I can't thank them enough for what they gave me were you a better player than uh Deion Sanders come on man I had to ask the best those two guys I mentioned I'll never put myself over them I mean for for for obvious reasons they were great players and great men never never put myself above him no I I definitely respect that answer um so you you talked about right big game tonight for Colorado have you seen a lot of shador Sanders as you know people talking about early first round pick for him maybe coming up in April oh yeah I've seen a little bit of him since high school and you know the kid is the real deal the thing I like about him is he takes it serious I mean and it's not like you have to push it on him he's he's one of those kids that loves the game I mean foret for get all the things that they do outside of the game which I think is very impactful as well but when they step on the field it's serious business and that's what I expect from him all year and at the next level there he is Champ Bailey champ we appreciate the time as always once again Champ Bailey has joined us today on behalf of the Champ Bailey Family Foundation also does great work with afflac and on Tuesday visited the Children's Health Care of Atlanta to meet with pediatric patients battling cancer champ always appreciate uh the good work that you do whenever you're on the show and then also off the show as well thanks so much thanks Zach good to see you