Rams WR Stedman Bailey, who sustained two gunshot wounds to the head back in November of last year, is attending Rams’ OTAs in a “de facto” coaching role, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
Bailey was working with the team’s receivers and appeared to be in good spirits. However, Bailey still has yet to be cleared to return to football activities, and Wagoner says that it remains to be seen if he’ll ever get another opportunity to play in the NFL.
“It’s been great to have him,” Rams HC Jeff Fisher said. “He’s been in the meetings, been helping out. We’ll have some more information here shortly, I’m sure.”
Bailey said a few months ago that he plans to attempt a return to the NFL at some point, despite doctors telling him it’s unlikely he’ll be able to continue his career.
“Since that incident, doctors have told me that they don’t think I’ll be able to make a return to the NFL,” Bailey said, via ESPN.com. “When somebody tells me that they don’t think I can do something, you know I’ll do everything that I can to prove them wrong. I like to call it ‘Steddy Ambition.’ And I will be making a return to the NFL.
“My neurosurgeon was also extremely concerned about me making a return to the NFL, because when I did get shot in the head, it was pretty much like the worst kind of concussions that you can have,” Bailey said. “Just being that football is such a physical sport, guys have concussions all the time. I would say that’s probably the scariest part about it, because at the end of the day, I just want to have my mind functioning where I can be a good family man, be a good dad, just be myself. That’s one thing I think is scary.”
Even so, Bailey stressed that he still dreams of playing in the NFL.
“It’s still a dream of mine to do good things in the NFL,” Bailey said. “I just came off my third year of being in the NFL, and I feel like I’ve got so much more in me. I want to at least have a 10-year career, so after three years, I feel like I still have a lot left in my tank to just keep going and continue to live out my dream.”
Bailey, 25, has one year remaining on his four-year, $2.736 million contract that included a $527,400 signing bonus. He stands to make a base salary of $690,123 in 2016.
In 2015, Bailey caught 12 passes for 182 yards receiving and one touchdown over the course of eight games for the Rams.
We’ll have more regarding Bailey’s future as the news is available.
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