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If you’ve spent any time in Miami over the last 40 years, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the familiar billboard for his carpet and flooring company. Born in Hog Mountain, Georgia, Bailey moved to Miami when he was 5-years-old. He graduated from Miami Edison High School in 1952, where he played on the football team. During that time, Edison played all of its home games at the Orange Bowl–sometimes in front of crowds larger than what the University of Miami used to draw at that time.
Bailey would become Miami’s most famous carpet salesman. But his business wasn’t always a success. In the early 1970s, his company was struggling and he even considered filing for bankruptcy. But in 1972, actor Burt Reynolds posed nude for a centerfold in Cosmopolitan Magazine. It drew amazing publicity. At the time, it was unheard of for a man to pose nude in a women’s magazine. Bailey got an idea. He called his brother who was a sign painter. Bailey decided to pose for a photo laying half naked on carpet. His brother took the photo and it would become one of South Florida’s most iconic billboards. The sign became a huge success. Suddenly, Bailey’s business began to boom. Coincidently, Bailey just happened to play high school football at the Orange Bowl against Burt Reynolds. Reynolds was an all state halfback who played at Palm Beach High School, who then went by the name Buddy Reynolds.
Today, Miami Hurricane fans know the name Don Bailey for his son Don Bailey Jr. The younger Bailey played center for the Canes from 1979 to 1982, snapping the ball to future hall of fame quarterback Jim Kelly. Don Bailey Jr. currently runs his father’s carpeting business while moonlighting as a color commentator during University of Miami football radio broadcasts. To read more about stories about the Orange Bowl, visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
