By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
What comes to mind when you think about Mario Bailey? Most probably remember his days as a Franklin High School and University of Washington football player, before playing professionally for the NFL, CFL, AFL, and NFL Europe for 12 years. But for Bailey, outside of his accomplishments as a player, he wants his legacy to center around his commitment to helping others and giving back to the community.
Since his retirement from pro football, Bailey, who was born and raised in Seattle, has held different roles working with youth and veterans in the area, including positions with King County and Seattle Public Schools. In addition, his love for the game of football led to him becoming the Head Coach of his alma mater Franklin High School from 2004-2008 and again during the 2017 season.
During that time, Bailey also started a nonprofit organization committed to bringing more resources and opportunities to the community, providing programs that give meals on Thanksgiving, and creating a scholarship fund for disadvantaged youth so they can attend college. He also serves on the Champions of Change Advisory Committee, 1861 NIL Foundation Board, and Atlantic Street Center Board of Directors.
Five years ago, Bailey began working with the Seattle Seahawks as the Director of Community Engagement and was later promoted to Director of Legends and Player Engagement. A few weeks ago, Bailey was promoted to a front office position as Vice President of Community Engagement and Legends. A role that Bailey says will allow him to give back in many different ways and help create a stronger local community in the process.
In his new role, Bailey is charged with leading the community in six pillars — youth empowerment, military community, community response, future of football, social justice, players, and legends. All these areas go hand-in-hand with Bailey’s experience prior to his job with the Seahawks.
“Honestly, this is a dream job,” says Bailey. “Prior to coming here, I was doing my best to give back to the community in different ways. The community here knows I’m into giving back and this gives me a big platform to do so, for as many people as I can.”
“I’ve always had a giving spirit and to use the Seattle Seahawks platform to give out to our community is the biggest blessing I can have,” he added. “Personally, my goal is to give back to all the underprivileged communities in different ways by finding out what they need and figuring out how to help them. My job and our job, as a whole, is to understand their needs and give back, you do not get in this position to not give back to the community.”
For Bailey, who like many others, has had his fair share of ups and downs in life, knows how kind gestures, resources and support from an organization like the Seahawks can positively impact a community. And when he got the news about his new role with the team, Bailey grew emotional as he thought about the opportunity that now presented itself to him.
“[I was] overwhelmed with emotion,” says Bailey. “The good ole’ saying of God is good came to my mind when I got the call. All I could think of is my mother and how proud she would be of me.”
“I have to say that this organization has treated me so wonderful and it’s been amazing working with the Seattle Seahawks,” added Bailey.
Bailey says the community can expect the Seahawks to use their platform to give back to the community in many ways, whether it is through donations, having their Seahawks Dancers and their mascot go to high school games to bring energy to players and fans, or having a Seahawks player go to different schools and speak to the kids, the goal is to give back to the community in as many ways as possible.
“In a variety of ways, the goal is to give back to the community that has done so much for me, giving back to organizations and schools, and supporting the community in any and every way possible,” said Bailey. “[With me in this role] the community can look for us to be out in the community doing a little bit of everything, I am here to help and give back to the community.”
