Dwight Jason Freeney (born February 19, 1980) is an American former
football player who played as a
defensive end
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football.
This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...
and
outside linebacker for 16 seasons in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He played
college football at
Syracuse University, where he earned unanimous
All-American honors, and was drafted by the
Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the
2002 NFL Draft. With the Colts, Freeney won
Super Bowl XLI over the
Chicago Bears, and made seven
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
s. He also played for the
San Diego Chargers,
Arizona Cardinals,
Atlanta Falcons,
Seattle Seahawks and
Detroit Lions.
Early years
Freeney was born in
Hartford, Connecticut. He attended
Bloomfield High School in
Bloomfield, Connecticut. Freeney was a four-sport letterman, earning four letters in baseball in which he was coached by Alphonso Ford; four in basketball; three in
football, in which he played both ways; and one in soccer, in which he played goalie in his freshman year before switching over to football. Freeney holds the record for
sacks at his high school and used to hold the record for most sacks in a high school career in the Connecticut record book. (Record now held by Mark Evanchick of Darien HS) Bloomfield High retired his No. 44 football jersey. During his youth, Freeney idolized
New York Giants linebacker
Lawrence Taylor.
College career
Freeney received an athletic scholarship to attend
Syracuse University, where he played for the
Syracuse Orange football team from 1998 to 2001. A two-year starter for the Orangemen, he set a school record with 17.5 sacks in his senior season and his 34 career sacks rank second in school history to Tim Green (45.5).
Freeney was the school's premier pass rusher, and once had a string of 17 consecutive games with at least one sack. Against Virginia Tech, Freeney sacked elusive Hokies quarterback
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...
4.5 times in one game.
Freeney finished his college career with 104 tackles (68 unassisted), 34 quarterback sacks, 51 tackles for a loss, and 43 quarterback pressures.
He was a first-team All-
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
selection in 2000 and 2001, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team
All-American following his senior season in 2001.
[''2011 NCAA Football Records Book'']
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 11 (2011). Retrieved June 24, 2012.
While attending Syracuse at a then 255-pounds, Freeney was clocked at 4.40 seconds during his 40-yard dash, and recorded 40-inch vertical jump. His 40-yard time remains among the fastest ever recorded for a defensive lineman.
Freeney still returns to Syracuse for his summer workouts, and serves as mentor to Syracuse players, including former walk-on Josh Arrington from the 2006–2008 season.
Professional career
2002 NFL Combine
Indianapolis Colts
Freeney was selected by the
Indianapolis Colts with the 11th selection in the
2002 NFL Draft. He set an NFL rookie record in 2002 with 9 forced fumbles, three of which occurred in a single game against former Syracuse football player,
Donovan McNabb. Freeney was the runner up for the
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...
award.
When drafted by Indianapolis at 270 lbs, Freeney was clocked at 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash and the same 40 inch vertical jump.
In 2004, Freeney's third season, he led the NFL with 16 sacks. At the end of his third season, Freeney's season marked him as the 3rd fastest player to achieve 40 sacks. He developed a spin move which became his trademark pass rush move.
In 2006, Freeney helped the Colts defeat the
Chicago Bears in
Super Bowl XLI to become NFL Champions.
![VICKpb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/VICKpb.jpg)
On February 19, 2007, the Colts placed the
franchise tag
In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...
on Freeney following the expiration of his rookie contract. This move allowed
Bill Polian and the Colts front office time to work on a long term contract. On July 13, 2007 Freeney signed a six-year, $72 million contract with $30 million in guarantees making Freeney one of the highest paid defensive players in the NFL.
Freeney was fined $20,000 by the NFL for his expletive-laced interview following the end of the Colts 2008–09 playoff campaign which ended with a 23-17 overtime playoff loss to the
San Diego Chargers. The NFL cited Freeney for making "inappropriate comments on officiating," according to the
Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...
. Freeney, frustrated by the three defensive penalties incurred as the Chargers made their game-winning drive, told Yahoo! Sports after the game: "Those were the worst
xpletivecalls I've seen in a long time ... To have a game of that magnitude taken out of your hands, it's just disgusting. It's not like they made one
xpletivebad call -- it's three calls, in overtime ... They need to start investigating some other
xpletive"
In 2012, Freeney converted from defensive end to outside linebacker under new head coach
Chuck Pagano.
Due to injury and not adjusting to his position-change well, Freeney struggled and finished the season with only five sacks and 12 tackles.
On February 15, 2013, Freeney was told he would not be re-signed by the Colts. Freeney left as the all-time franchise leader in sacks with 107.5, but was surpassed by former teammate
Robert Mathis
Robert Nathan Mathis (born February 26, 1981) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker who played his entire 14-year career with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footbal ...
the next season. Mathis would also break Freeney's franchise season record of 16 sacks the following season, too, when he tallied 19.5.
San Diego Chargers
On May 18, 2013, Freeney signed a two-year deal with the
San Diego Chargers.
During the 2013 season, Freeney suffered a season-ending injury and recorded a career low with 0.5 sacks.
In 2014, Freeney looked to bounce back from the previous year and did. Throughout the season, Freeney was only used as a pass rush specialist coming out only on passing downs. Against the
Seattle Seahawks Freeney sacked
Russell Wilson, which contributed to a Chargers victory. The next week, Freeney got a sack against the
Buffalo Bills. Against the 49ers, Dwight Freeney and
Ricardo Mathews
Ricardo Eugene Mathews (born July 30, 1987) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football at Cincinnati.
He also played for the H ...
sacked and forced a
Colin Kaepernick
Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt du ...
fumble leading to a Chargers touchdown. The next week recorded one sack against
Chase Daniel and the Chiefs. Freeney finished the season with 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a pass deflect.
Arizona Cardinals
On October 12, 2015, Freeney signed a one-year, $870,000 deal with the
Arizona Cardinals, with the incentive to receive a $200,000 bonus with four sacks and then would receive $100,000 for each sack thereafter, with a maximum of 12.
Freeney was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 16, in which he had three sacks and a forced fumble, the first time he had three sacks in a game since 2006. Coincidentally, former Colts teammate
Robert Mathis
Robert Nathan Mathis (born February 26, 1981) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker who played his entire 14-year career with the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college footbal ...
won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for the same week.
Freeney appeared in nine games during the 2015 season, totaling 8.0 sacks (leading the team) and three forced fumbles.
Atlanta Falcons
![Dwight Freeney 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Dwight_Freeney_2016.JPG)
On August 2, 2016, Freeney signed a one-year deal with the
Atlanta Falcons. He played in 15 games, totaling three sacks. The Falcons won the
NFC Championship
The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Amer ...
to advance to
Super Bowl LI
Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New ...
, bringing Freeney to his third career Super Bowl. Freeney had one sack in the big game, although the Falcons lost to the Patriots by a score of 34–28.
Seattle Seahawks
On October 24, 2017, Freeney signed a one-year deal with the
Seattle Seahawks. After playing in four games recording three sacks, Freeney was released by the Seahawks on November 21, 2017.
Detroit Lions
On November 22, 2017, Freeney was claimed off waivers by the
Detroit Lions.
Retirement
Freeney announced his retirement on April 19, 2018, after signing a ceremonial one-day contract with the Colts to retire as a member of the team he spent the majority of his career with.
NFL career statistics
Personal life
On March 28, 2012, Freeney's financial advisor was arrested and charged with embezzling $2.2 million from Freeney. In 2015, Freeney sued
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
for $20 million, claiming he trusted the bank's wealth management division with the assets.
References
External links
*
*
Indianapolis Colts bioSan Diego Chargers bio Syracuse Orange bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeney, Dwight
1980 births
Living people
People from Bloomfield, Connecticut
Players of American football from Hartford, Connecticut
American football defensive ends
American football linebackers
Syracuse Orange football players
All-American college football players
Indianapolis Colts players
San Diego Chargers players
Arizona Cardinals players
Atlanta Falcons players
Seattle Seahawks players
Detroit Lions players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Bloomfield High School (Connecticut) alumni
100 Sacks Club
Ed Block Courage Award recipients