Adam Bailey was a placekicker for Burnsville High and walked on at the University of Minnesota in 1994. He spent two seasons waiting for Mike Chalberg's eligibility to expire, then was given the opportunity to secure the Gophers kicking job in spring practice of 1996.

Coach Jim Wacker assessed Bailey's performance that spring as somewhere between "lousy and terrible."

Bailey confirmed this last week, saying: "It was my chance to earn the job, and I didn't kick well."

The Gophers reassembled that August and the coaches remained unsatisfied. Two weeks into fall drills, they gave a scholarship to David Scanlan, an unsigned junior college kicker from California.

Scanlan pulled a leg muscle and Bailey, a redshirt sophomore, started the season as a kicker. In Game 3, he made field goals of 48 and 26 yards in the closing minutes to give the Gophers a 35-33 victory over No. 23 Syracuse.

"Jim Wacker was a great guy, and that was probably the most emotional victory of his career," Bailey said. "That was a tremendous night."

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Adam Bailey’s breakthrough moment with the Gophers was his winning field goal in the final minute against Syracuse as a sophomore in 1996. Here, he signaled the kick was good with holder Ryan Rindels.

And a tremendous few days that followed. Bailey was named the Big Ten special teams player of the week and was awarded a scholarship by Wacker.

Bailey would have an outstanding career. His best day came at Beaver Stadium in October 1997, when he kicked five field goals in a 16-15 loss to No. 1-rated Penn State. The five included a 50-yarder and a 52-yarder.

"The strange thing about that day was I had the worst warmup of my career," Bailey said. "It was so bad the Penn State student section noticed and started getting on me."

In 1998, the Gophers needed a Bailey field goal on the last play to avoid an upset against Arkansas State, and a Bailey field goal with 13 seconds left to upset Michigan State.

There was also the downside -- a 19-18 loss to Indiana in November 1998 in which Bailey missed two extra points and two field goals, and coach Glen Mason elected to go for it on fourth down rather than try a late field goal.

"I hear about that game all the time," Bailey said. "With kickers, people remember the bad days."

That's also the case in what became Bailey's line of work: law enforcement.

Bailey's university degree was in criminal justice. He went to Metro State to earn a law enforcement certificate. He became license-eligible and started applying to police departments.

He was hired in St. Louis Park in 2003. He landed with the St. Paul Police Department in 2005. And, yes, the Adam Bailey that took a bullet two weeks ago was the veteran of many clutch kicks for the Gophers.

Early on Dec. 8, St. Paul police were following up a fight that led to a fatal shooting outside an East Side apartment complex. Four hours after the fight, police encountered Romell Hill, 19, as he returned to the apartment building.

According to the police report, Hill struggled with officers and then fired a shot that struck Bailey -- grazing him and then striking his left calf. Hill was hit by police fire and died at the scene. The officers involved were Bailey, Thomas Weinzettel and Stephen Bobrowski.

The three are on paid leave and can't talk about the incident until procedures are complete.

Bailey also went through this in April and was among several St. Paul officers -- including Boomer, a K-9 cop -- to ultimately receive the Medal of Valor.

Robert Jeske, 34, was holding a weapon in an alley on the East Side. He ignored a command to drop the gun and Boomer was turned loose. When Jeske raised his gun toward the officers, Bailey, Brian Casey and Douglas Wilson fired, killing Jeske and wounding Boomer in the mouth.

Boomer was fixed up at the University of Minnesota vet center and returned to duty briefly. The German shepherd is now retired and a pet for his companion officer, Patrick Murphy.

Bailey is recovering from the calf wound, and plans to return to duty once the process that follows a fatal shooting is complete.

"The work is similar in St. Louis Park and in St. Paul -- it's just that things are busier in the big city," Bailey said. "This is definitely what I worked for. I have the ability to move around and not spend a lot of time in the office."

Patrick Reusse can be heard 5:30-9 a.m. weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP. • preusse@startribune.com