Champ Bailey Wants Wes Welker To Retire For His Own Good

Diminutive, oft-concussed receiver Wes Welker is still looking for an NFL job. Champ Bailey wishes he’d stop.

Bailey, who played with Welker for one season in Denver and saw him suffer two concussions in three weeks, is “scared” that the 34-year-old receiver is going to keep playing and risk his long-term health. (The really scary part about brain trauma is that it might already be too late.)

“I don’t want Wes to play for my own personal reasons. I’ve seen him get concussions. It scares me,” Bailey told Fox Sports. “I think he can still play, but I don’t want him to play because of these concussions.

“This thing is no joke. It’s a serious thing when you start talking about your head. And for him to have to worry about that at a young age that he is now, he has to think about that for years to come, and I just hope he hangs it up and not strap it up again.”

Despite playing in three Super Bowls, Welker has never won a championship. Bailey fears that’s Welker’s motivation for hanging on.

“I understand why he has that desire to play, he wants the ring,” Bailey told Fox Sports. “He still has that hunger, I just don’t want to see it.”

Welker says he’s medically cleared to play, though everything we know about concussions indicates that the more you’ve had, the more likely you are to receive another one. Between fears about his health, his age, and his declining production when he is on the field, there are lots of good reasons not to sign him. At least until some team has a WR go down with injury in camp and they need a veteran who’ll work for cheap.