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Bailey Makes First Appearance As Pittsburgh Steeler
8/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. ? Former Duke football player Patrick Bailey made his playing debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers Friday night in their opening preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
“It was really cool to run out of the tunnel with the Pittsburgh Steelers logo on the side of my helmet,” said rookie linebacker Patrick Bailey. “It hits you that you are playing in the NFL and you want to keep playing.”
Bailey, who signed a rookie free agent contract with the Steelers in April, made his first appearance in the game on special teams with the kickoff coverage unit. He was in the game for two of the Steeler's kickoffs. He said nothing happened for him on the first kickoff but the second is one he will remember.
“The second one I ran down and blew up the wedge,” said Bailey. “That was awesome. It was fun.”
Bailey also played some on defense in the Steeler's 16-10 victory to open up the preseason schedule. Late in the fourth quarter he made a solo tackle on Eagles wide receiver Frantz Hardy following a 17-yard pass completion from quarterback A.J. Feeley.
So far Bailey has had a good training camp for the Steelers. He started with a mini-camp following the NFL draft and then went threw OTA practice sessions in early June. The players reported for training camp on July 27. The hardest thing for Bailey in his young NFL career has been learning the playbook.
“The first day of mini-camp they gave us 25-30 plays to learn,” said Bailey. “The playbooks in the NFL are a lot bigger than they are in college. The schemes are more in depth so there is more to learn.”
Bailey and the Steelers will play their second preseason game on Thursday, August 14 against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
“It was really cool to run out of the tunnel with the Pittsburgh Steelers logo on the side of my helmet,” said rookie linebacker Patrick Bailey. “It hits you that you are playing in the NFL and you want to keep playing.”
Bailey, who signed a rookie free agent contract with the Steelers in April, made his first appearance in the game on special teams with the kickoff coverage unit. He was in the game for two of the Steeler's kickoffs. He said nothing happened for him on the first kickoff but the second is one he will remember.
“The second one I ran down and blew up the wedge,” said Bailey. “That was awesome. It was fun.”
Bailey also played some on defense in the Steeler's 16-10 victory to open up the preseason schedule. Late in the fourth quarter he made a solo tackle on Eagles wide receiver Frantz Hardy following a 17-yard pass completion from quarterback A.J. Feeley.
So far Bailey has had a good training camp for the Steelers. He started with a mini-camp following the NFL draft and then went threw OTA practice sessions in early June. The players reported for training camp on July 27. The hardest thing for Bailey in his young NFL career has been learning the playbook.
“The first day of mini-camp they gave us 25-30 plays to learn,” said Bailey. “The playbooks in the NFL are a lot bigger than they are in college. The schemes are more in depth so there is more to learn.”
Bailey and the Steelers will play their second preseason game on Thursday, August 14 against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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