Road to 1991 Perfection: Mario 'We're Best Team State's Ever Seen'

Never shy about offering his opinion, Bailey maintains he and his national championship teammates have no sporting equals in the region, pro or college.

Mario Bailey took a sweeping bow after scoring against Washington State in the Apple Cup.

At the Rose Bowl five weeks later, the first-team Associated Press All-America wide receiver raced into the end zone once more against Michigan and struck a Heisman pose.

Now nearly three decades later, the diminutive and elusive former pass-catcher assumes a proud and defiant stance.

Ask him what college football's 1991 national championship and an beaten season means to him and his teammates, and he ranks it among these Huskies among the Seattle's other title-holders, college and pro, and dares you to disagree with him. 

"It changed my life and continues to be a part of my life," Bailey said. "I feel in Washington sports, you have the Seahawks, the Sonics and the Storm [winning championships] a couple of times. But in my opinion, my humble opinion, we're the best team the state of Washington has ever seen."

This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national title run, supplementing the conversation for the recently completed pandemic-influenced season. We're now in the aftermath of the Huskies' 12-0 season in this throwback replay.

Bailey came up with 18 touchdowns in those dozen games, often playing no more than a half at a time. 

He gave the Huskies great speed and quickness. He also brought the attitude of someone who felt he was unbeatable. At Rose Bowl practice, he told the defensive backs what was coming and still ran circles around them.

Bailey went on to play in NFL Europe after trying to catch on in the NFL. He's owned his own businesses, coached and now is part of the Seahawks' administrative team. 

While his NFL franchise has been to the Super Bowl three times and won it once, what the Huskies did in 1991 — overpower, dominate and win every time it played — Bailey puts his team above all others.

In Washington state sports history, we're still the No. 1 team," Bailey said. "So it's a blessing in my life."

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