Antonio Freeman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Antonio Freeman | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | May 27, 1972 |
| Place of birth | Baltimore, MD |
| Position(s) | Wide Receiver |
| College | Virginia Tech |
| NFL Draft | 1995 / Round 3 |
| Pro Bowls | 1 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1995-2001 2002 2003 |
Green Bay Packers Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers |
Antonio Freeman is a former American NFL wide receiver, most notably for the Green Bay Packers. Freeman was Born May 27, 1972 in Syracuse, New York. One of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the Green Bay Packers, he attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, dominating his high school conference. Freeman attended college at Virginia Tech. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1995 NFL Draft and in his rookie season returned a punt for a touchdown during a playoff win over Atlanta.
The peak of Freeman's career occurred during his first tenure with the Green Bay Packers including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 over the New England Patriots. During that Super Bowl Freeman caught a Super Bowl record-length touchdown pass of 81 yards from Brett Favre, since eclipsed. That play would give the Packers the lead for good as they went on to win 35-21. In the course of that Super Bowl season, Freeman made several acrobatic catches for touchdowns from QB Brett Favre, several of them jaw-dropping. Three in particular occurred against the Seattle Seahawks(1), and Chicago Bears(2). He was the go-to wide receiver during this time and teamed with Brett Favre to catch over 50 touchdown passes in his career with the Packers(57).
The following season, Freeman recorded a career high 81 receptions for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns, assisting the Packers to their second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. His team lost the Super Bowl XXXII 31-24 to the Denver Broncos, but Freeman had an outstanding performance in it. Freeman caught 9 passes for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also gaining another 104 yards on 6 kickoff returns, giving him 230 total yards, the third highest total in Super Bowl history.
In 1998, Freeman had his best NFL season, catching 84 passes for a league leading 1,424 receiving yards and making his first, (and only), trip to the NFL Pro Bowl.
Wearing uniform #86 in his career, he made what ESPN in 2005 labeled as the greatest play in the history of Monday Night Football. During the game on November 6, 2000, he caught a presumed incomplete pass in bad conditions from Brett Favre on his back against the Green Bay Packers rival the Minnesota Vikings. He then quickly and alertly got up and waltzed into the end zone for the winning score in overtime. The touchdown prompted ABC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, who was obviously stunned by the play, to famously say, "He did WHAT???"
Antonio Freeman played for the Green Bay Packers from 1995 through the 2001 NFL season. After feuding with Packers Head Coach Mike Sherman in 2001 Freeman signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. His final game in his first Packers tenure was against the St. Louis Rams during the 2001 NFL playoffs. He then went on to play a year for the Eagles in 2002 before coming back to Green Bay for the 2003 season and a second tenure with the club. His final catch with the Packers occurred on the road in December 2003 during the 4th quarter of Brett Favre's phenomenal performance against the Oakland Raiders on ABC's Monday Night Football following the death of Favre's father. He played his final game with Green Bay in the infamous "4th and 26" debacle in the NFL playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles in January 2004. Freeman last played in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins during 2004 training camp.
In his 10 NFL seasons, Freeman caught 477 passes for 7,251 yards, gained 1,007 yards returning kickoffs and punts, and scored 64 touchdowns. His teams made the playoffs in seven of his NFL seasons. He appeared in four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls. He ranks 5th all-time on the Green Bay Packers receivers list with 6,651 yards on 431 catches. Antonio Freeman had three 1,000 yard receiving seasons in his career, 1997-1999. Nicknamed "Free", in 2006 Freeman won a Pop Warner Award for his work with youth. He played in the Pro Bowl in 1999 and participated in the NFL Alumni skills competition at the February 2007 Pro Bowl. He is a likely inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in the future.
[edit] Trivia
- Hosts show on ESPN about fantasy football
- Subject of what is widely regarded to be the best Athlete Run-in story on Deadspin as told from the perspective of a high school aged Nick Mortensen who would later become a comedian of some import doing Green Bay Packer material.
