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Maxwell Club Tri-State Winner, Roxborough's Rasheed Bailey, Enjoys The Moment

By Joseph Santoliquito

ATLANTIC CITY (CBS) — Rasheed Bailey looked out over the crowd Friday afternoon at the media introduction to begin the 78th Annual Maxwell Club Gala at the Tropicana and inhaled. The Roxborough High graduate and Maxwell Club Tri-State Player of the Year out of Division III Delaware Valley College wanted to savor the moment—his moment.

"Some people get to these moments and they miss it; you have to grasp these moments and when I was up there being introduced, I wanted to grasp everything, because you really don't get these moments back," said Bailey, a rock-hard 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver who had 80 receptions for 1,707 yards and 19 touchdowns last year—setting school single-season records in all three categories. "I didn't even myself standing on this stage. I have NFL teams calling and I'm talking to a bunch of NFL scouts. This has been a dream come true."

One moment Bailey was a little recruited tight end out of Roxborough, then he's a rising receiver at Delaware Valley College and the next he's on the same stage sitting next to Maxwell Collegiate Player of the Year and sure-fire first-round NFL draft pick Marcus Mariota.

"It's been humbling and crazy, because I'm up there sitting next to someone who's done so much at the Division-I level, and crazy because I've done some good things, too, and to get to this point now is a pleasure to be here," Bailey said. "I've learned no dream is ever too big. Dreams are possible. The things I used to dream about are actually happening."

Bailey found himself at Delaware Valley.

He developed into one of the most dangerous receivers in Division III football, earning a pile of awards, from Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Offensive Player of the Year, to First Team All-Conference, to Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Southeast Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference, to D3football.com First Team All-American, to being named to the Associated Press (AP) First Team Little All-America Squad.

Last season, Bailey led all of Division III in receiving yardage, yards per game (155.2 avg) and receiving touchdowns. His 11 catches tied a single-game school record in the Aggies' season-opening win at Montclair State.

He set a single-game record with 252 receiving yards in a win over Albright, tied a single-game mark with 4 receiving touchdowns in back-to-back wins over Lebanon Valley and Albright—and was the heart and soul of a Delaware Valley team that began 9-0 and finished 9-2, which included a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Not bad for someone who had to be taught how to run routes when he first arrived at Delaware Valley.

"When I first got there, I used to think I was better than everyone, because it was Division III and I thought I was above it," said Bailey, who is on schedule to graduate in May with a marketing degree. "I was in for a rude awakening—I have to admit. Division III football is a good quality of football, there are a lot of good players out there. Football is football. It doesn't matter where you are.

"I had to learn so much. I was so behind when I got there. I had a chip on my shoulder and it's an amazing feeling when I think back on where I was, and where I am now. This is an amazing, amazing honor to receive the Maxwell Club Tri-State Player of the Year. Delaware Valley, I can truly say, has changed me in not only becoming a better football player, but a better person."

Bailey admits his success is more involved than running routes and catching passes. He openly acknowledges what went into it, the people involved that have helped shape him.

"I don't even have the words to describe what has happened to me," Bailey said. "It's not about me, either. It's about Del Val, it's about my high school coaches and my Del Val football family that have helped me get here. All of those years that you work, it's not only about you. You honor those that have helped you get here, and it's the way I'm looking at the success I've had. Hopefully I can give some hope to other players, guys like me playing D-III and thinking about playing on."

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