Longtime former NFL outside linebacker/defensive lineman Dwight Freeney is being immortalized forever in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, per Sean Patrick Bowley and Carl Adamec of the Connecticut Insider.
Following an All-American career at Syracuse, Freeney was selected with the No. 11 pick in the 2002 NFL draft by the Peyton Manning-era Indianapolis Colts. He made an instant impact at the pro level, emerging as the runner-up to fellow 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Julius Peppers for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award honors.
With several deep playoff run-bound Colts teams, Freeney was named a four-time All-Pro Teamer and a seven-time Pro Bowler. He would go on to be named to the NFL's 2000s All-Decade Team. He was once the league's sack leader, in 2004, and its forced fumbles co-leader in 2002. Freeney won his lone Super Bowl with Indiana in 2007.
Freeney joined the Philip Rivers-era San Diego Chargers for a two-season, post-prime stint, in 2013-14, before a journeyman circuit that saw him make appearances on the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, and finally the Detroit Lions before hanging up his cleats.
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