Robert Bailey (American football)

Robert Martin Bailey (born September 3, 1968 in Barbados) is a former American football cornerback who played eleven seasons for six teams, the Los Angeles Rams, the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins, the Detroit Lions, and the Baltimore Ravens from 1991 to 2001 in the National Football League.

Bailey played college football at the University of Miami and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Rams.

Bailey was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary The U, which premiered December 12, 2009 on ESPN.

He was nicknamed "Beetle" after the comic strip character.

On October 23, 1994 as a member with the Rams, Bailey made the longest punt return in NFL history when he ran 103 yards for a touchdown in a game against the New Orleans Saints. What makes this return stand out is that every single player on the field assumed the ball was going to bounce through the end zone after the punt. Everyone, that is, except Bailey, who was the only person to see that the ball never bounced out of the end zone and was lying in the end zone still in play. He ran up, scooped the ball up, and returned it for a touchdown before anyone realized what had happened.

A broken neck against the Green Bay Packers ended Bailey's NFL career in 2001.

Bailey currently works in the sports marketing business as President of Rosenhaus Sports.