'Thankful To Be Alive!' Seahawks Geno Smith Teammate Update After Family Drive-By Shooting

Stedman Bailey and three of his family members were victims of a drive-by shooting in Florida in 2015, and Geno Smith of the Seahawks laments that his West Virginia pal would never suit up again.

A weekend social-media conversation about how Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was overlooked as a college star as he wasn't named a Heisman Trophy finalist switched gears quickly to a literal life-and-death issue regarding one of Smith's West Virginia Mountaineers teammates.

The centerpiece of that part of the discussion is receiver Stedman Bailey. Bailey put on a show alongside Smith in 2012, posting 114 receptions for 1,622 yards and 25 touchdowns. Bailey - who also played along Smith in high school - was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football, but lost out to USC Trojans star Marquise Lee.

To Smith, Bailey losing the award was a "crime,'' as Geno put it ... but only a figurative one. ... because Bailey and his family were victimized later in a literal sense.

"Stedman was ROBBED of the Biltinikoff that year ... that was the real crime," Smith wrote on Twitter. ... But the story goes much deeper than that.

Stedman was ROBBED of the Beltinikoff that year.. that was the real crime https://t.co/RPWIbxaHDZ

— Geno (@GenoSmith3) June 24, 2023

Bailey was a third-round pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2013. (The Rams also drafted the other star from that WVU team, Tavon Austin.) But in November 2015, Bailey and three of his family members were victims of a drive-by shooting in Florida. Bailey miraculously survived two gunshot wounds to the head, but he would never suit up in the NFL again. And all these years later, Smith laments a career lost.

"(Bailey) would've still been balling no doubt," Smith wrote on Twitter in response to a fan praising his old pal. Bailey, though, seems to have moved on happily.

"I've got my wife and my son, and right now we are expecting," Bailey told WVU Athletics in September. "I'm in a really good place, and I'm thankful and grateful to be alive."

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