Allen Bailey, Chiefs' 'Hulk' and 'Glue Guy,' Dies at 37

What happened

Allen Bailey, the former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end, was found dead Tuesday at his home in Florida at the age of 37. Bailey spent eight seasons with the Chiefs before finishing his 10-year NFL career with two years on the Atlanta Falcons, appearing in 133 regular-season games.

Why it is surprising

The shock is the age and the way people describe him. The Western Journal reports Bailey was known as 'The Hulk' — at 6-foot-3 and 288 pounds, a nickname he said he earned as a Miami freshman and which former teammate Dee Ford called 'perfect' because he 'looks like the Hulk.

Plays like the Hulk.' Yet the same giant was called a 'gentle giant' by former Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson, per The Western Journal.

Reid and Mahomes remember him

I'm just sorry to see that happened to him,' adding that knowing Bailey's father also died young, 'It makes you sick when it happens to somebody that young.'

Patrick Mahomes, per ESPN, recalled Bailey was the first person he saw entering the locker room after the 2017 draft: 'This isn't the Big 12 anymore.' Mahomes called him 'one of those glue guys... the guy that kind of makes everything go.'

The evidence: a quiet career, loudly mourned

The numbers are corroborated across pack outlets: a 2011 third-round pick out of Miami, Bailey recorded 22 sacks and 248 combined tackles in 133 games, with a career-best six sacks and a fumble-recovery touchdown in 2018, per ESPN.

The Chiefs' official X statement, quoted by Yahoo Sports, called him 'an excellent teammate, a generous man, and a kind soul.' God needed another angel.'

From Sapelo Island to the NFL

Bailey's roots were as striking as his career. The Guardian reports he grew up on Sapelo Island, a Georgia barrier island accessible only by boat with a population of fewer than 70 people — 'no stop signs, no traffic lights... mostly dirt roads,' Bailey told Distraction magazine in 2018.

From there he became a two-time All-ACC selection at the University of Miami, and later ran the Allen Bailey Foundation supporting student-athletes and families in southeastern Georgia and Florida, per Yahoo Sports.

What comes next

No official cause of death has been confirmed, and fans on social media are already trading memories, including one fan quoted by Yahoo Sports recalling his fumble-recovery touchdown against the Rams in 2018.

For Chiefs supporters, ESPN notes that former teammates Chris Jones, Dwayne Bowe, Mitch Morse and Mitchell Schwartz all posted tributes within hours. Yahoo Sports writes that for Kansas City fans, 'the No. 97 will endure long after the final whistle.'

Sources

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