Allen Bailey

Allen Bailey died on 20 October 2026 at his home in Florida, aged 37. According to his brother, Alford Bailey Jr., speaking to TMZ, Bailey's wife found him dead at the home. The family believed he had died of natural causes, but an official cause of death had not been confirmed when the news was reported on 21 October.

His former University of Miami teammate, linebacker Colin McCarthy, was among the first to share the news, writing that he had lost a brother. The death was reported by TMZ, the Kansas City Star, the New York Post, EssentiallySports and Gulf News, and tributes followed from former teammates and Chiefs supporters. Funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of reporting.

Allen Bailey was born on 25 March 1989 on Sapelo Island, Georgia, a barrier island on the Georgia coast that has no bridge to the mainland and is reached by ferry. He attended McIntosh County Academy in Darien, McIntosh County, where he played linebacker and fullback. As a junior he made 138 tackles and three sacks and, as a fullback, ran for 323 yards and four touchdowns on 51 carries. A stress fracture in his back limited him to four games as a senior.

He enrolled at the University of Miami in 2007. As a freshman he played in all 12 games, mostly on special teams. In 2008 he started four games at defensive end and finished with 36 tackles and five sacks, and in 2009 he recorded seven sacks and was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference. He was a second-team All-ACC selection in 2010.

At the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine Bailey measured 6 feet 3 inches and about 285 pounds and posted a 36.5 inch vertical leap, the third best among defensive linemen that year. The Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft with the 86th overall pick.

He recorded his first NFL sack against the Green Bay Packers in December 2011 and was used mainly as a rotational lineman in his first two seasons. The 2013 season was a turning point, and in 2014 he started all 14 games he played, setting career bests with 41 combined tackles and five sacks. On 15 November 2014 the Chiefs signed him to a four-year extension worth 25 million dollars. In 2015 he made 38 tackles, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, and in the January 2016 wild card game he had two sacks in a 30-0 win over the Houston Texans.

A torn pectoral muscle put him on injured reserve in October 2016. He returned as a starter in 2017, and in 2018 he played all 16 games with 13 starts, recording a career-high six sacks, two forced fumbles and a league-leading four fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown. Teammates, including Chris Jones, called him Hulk.

In July 2019 Bailey signed a two-year deal worth 10.5 million dollars with the Atlanta Falcons. He played 31 games across the 2019 and 2020 seasons before the Falcons released him on 18 February 2021, which proved to be the end of his NFL career. In 133 regular season games he made 70 starts, 248 combined tackles, 22 sacks, four forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries.

Bailey was married and lived in Florida after his playing career. His brother, Alford Bailey Jr., spoke for the family after his death. Former teammates described him as well liked in the locker room, and his journey from a small island community on the Georgia coast to a decade in the NFL was often highlighted in coverage of his career. Little else about his private life was made public.

Bailey is remembered in Kansas City as a steady member of the Chiefs defensive line through most of the 2010s, a period in which the team rose to become an annual playoff contender. His 2018 season, with six sacks and a league-best four fumble recoveries, came in the year the Chiefs reached the AFC Championship Game. His path from Sapelo Island and a small rural high school to the University of Miami and ten NFL seasons is remembered as an example of perseverance.