Alumnus finds success in XFL

CHICAGO -- In 1996, IU linebacker and captain Jamie Baisley won the Balfour Award for bringing honor and distinction to Hoosier football.\nNow, Baisley leads the XFL's Chicago Enforcers in their inaugural season. Baisley helped clinch the last playoff spot by making 11 tackles in the season finale win against the Orlando Rage. A loss to the Rage would have ended the Enforcers' season.\nBaisely has been a bright spot for the Enforcers, being named Defensive Player of the Week in Week 9 against New York/New Jersey. He had a team-best eight tackles and secured Chicago's much-needed win with an interception on the Hitmen's final possession.\nBaisley's play has the attention of Enforcers' personnel, including Enforcer coach Ron Meyer. \n"Jamie is our defensive leader, no doubt," said Meyer, a former Indianapolis Colts' coach who guided the team in the late 1980s. "He brings a lot of smarts and toughness to the field. (Former IU football coach) Bill Mallory had a good one when he had him."\nBaisley, listed at 6-foot-2 and 246 pounds, leads the Enforcers in total tackles with 64 and individual tackles with 55. \nBaisley, who is a candidate for XFL Defensive Player of the Year, showed his strength Sunday by playing with an injured calf muscle after being questionable for the contest. But he showed no signs of injury as the Enforcers held the Rage -- the league's second best offense -- to only six points. Baisley attributed the effort to the team coming together. \n "It was a great feeling to win this game and make the playoffs," he said. "We really came together offensively and defensively to win."\nNow Baisely will try to lead Chicago into "The Million Dollar Game," the XFL's Super Bowl. The Enforcers start their playoff run Saturday against the Los Angeles Xtreme. The two teams met in Week 2 and went into double overtime. The Xtreme pulled away to win the game 39-32. \n"We are going to have our hands full with Los Angeles," Baisley said. "Stopping the L.A. offense is the key to the game."\nBaisley can still remember the experience he had as a Hoosier.\n"IU was a great experience for me," he said. "Those were some of my best years. We did not win as much, but we were still playing Big Ten football. We had some great coaches, and it helped me build a lot of character."\nDespite a hard-nosed demeanor on the field, Baisley is known as a jokester among his teammates. \n"We have a lot of comedians on this team, and Jamie's one of them," linebacker Chike Egbuniwe said. "He knows how to lighten things up but also knows how to handle his business on the field."