Antonio Freeman
Encyclopedia
Antonio Michael Freeman (born May 27, 1972 in Baltimore
, Maryland
) is a former American football
wide receiver
in the National Football League
, most notably for the Green Bay Packers
. He attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
, dominating his high school conference. Freeman played college football
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. He went on to lead the Packers in receiving in four seasons from 1996–1999, and led the NFL in receiving in 1998.
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 quarterback
Brett Favre
.
In 1998
, Freeman had his best NFL season, catching 84 passes for a league leading 1,424 receiving yards and earning the right to his only Pro Bowl
appearance.
During overtime
of a Monday night game on November 6, 2000 despite bad weather conditions, Freeman caught what initially appeared to be an incomplete pass while lying on his back—after almost being intercepted, the ball actually bounced off multiple parts of Freeman's body without hitting the ground. Untouched by the defender, Freeman jumped to his feet and ran the ball in for the winning touchdown over the rival Minnesota Vikings
. The touchdown prompted ABC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
, who was obviously stunned by the play, to famously shout, "He did WHAT???" In 2005 ESPN
labeled the catch as the greatest play in the history of Monday Night Football
. Freeman has said it was the second best catch of his career (claiming his best to be an 81 yard catch in Super Bowl XXXI).
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 fourth 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 ten NFL seasons, Freeman caught 477 passes for 7,251 yards, gained 1,007 yards returning kickoffs and punts, and scored 61 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 sixth all-time on the Green Bay Packers receivers list with 6,651 yards on 431 catches. 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.
On June 16, 2007, Freeman re-signed with the Packers. In the eight years that he played with the Packers he had 431 catches, which is the sixth most catches in Packer history. Sources say that he re-signed to the team with intentions of retiring as a Packer.
Freeman occasionally is an analyst with ESPN where he occasionally shares his opinions on ESPN First Take
and NFL Live
mostly during football season, he also appeared on ESPN College Gameday in support of his alma mater Virginia Tech. Freeman now appears on Redskins Kickoff and Redskins Postgame Live as a commentator on Comcast SportsNet Washington.
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
) is a former American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, most notably for the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. He attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute is a US public high school founded in 1883. Though established as an all-male trade school,it now is a institution that emphasizes mathematics, the sciences, and engineering. It is located on a tract of land in North Baltimore at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane,...
, dominating his high school conference. Freeman played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 1995 NFL Draft
1995 NFL Draft
The 1995 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City...
and in his rookie season returned a punt for a touchdown during a playoff win over Atlanta. He went on to lead the Packers in receiving in four seasons from 1996–1999, and led the NFL in receiving in 1998.
Professional career
The peak of Freeman's career occurred during his first tenure with the Green Bay PackersGreen Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...
in 1997 over the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
. During that Super Bowl Freeman caught a Super Bowl record-length touchdown pass of 81 yards from Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
, 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 quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
.
In 1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
, Freeman had his best NFL season, catching 84 passes for a league leading 1,424 receiving yards and earning the right to his only Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
appearance.
During overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
of a Monday night game on November 6, 2000 despite bad weather conditions, Freeman caught what initially appeared to be an incomplete pass while lying on his back—after almost being intercepted, the ball actually bounced off multiple parts of Freeman's body without hitting the ground. Untouched by the defender, Freeman jumped to his feet and ran the ball in for the winning touchdown over the rival Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
. The touchdown prompted ABC play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
Al Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
, who was obviously stunned by the play, to famously shout, "He did WHAT???" In 2005 ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
labeled the catch as the greatest play in the history of Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
. Freeman has said it was the second best catch of his career (claiming his best to be an 81 yard catch in Super Bowl XXXI).
Freeman played for the Green Bay Packers from 1995
1995 NFL season
The 1995 NFL season was the 76th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 30 teams with the addition of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars...
through the 2001 NFL season
2001 NFL season
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...
. After feuding with Packers Head Coach Mike Sherman
Mike Sherman
Michael Francis "Mike" Sherman is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Prior to coaching the Aggies, he served as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from the 2000–05 seasons. Sherman led the Packers to five consecutive winning seasons from 2000–04 and three divisional titles...
in 2001, Freeman signed with the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. His final game in his first Packers tenure was against the St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
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 fourth 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
4th and 26
4th and 26 is the commonly used name for a famous play on Sunday, January 11, 2004, during the 2003–04 NFL playoffs. The play occurred during the fourth quarter of a divisional playoff game between the visiting Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in...
" debacle in the NFL playoffs against the Philadelphia Eagles in January 2004. Freeman last played in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
during 2004 training camp.
In his ten NFL seasons, Freeman caught 477 passes for 7,251 yards, gained 1,007 yards returning kickoffs and punts, and scored 61 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 sixth all-time on the Green Bay Packers receivers list with 6,651 yards on 431 catches. Freeman had three 1,000 yard receiving seasons in his career, 1997-1999. Nicknamed "Free", in 2006 Freeman won a Pop Warner
Pop Warner Little Scholars
Pop Warner Little Scholars is a non-profit organization that provides youth football, cheerleading, and dance programs for participants in 43 U.S. states and several countries around the world. It is headquartered in Langhorne, Pennsylvania...
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.
On June 16, 2007, Freeman re-signed with the Packers. In the eight years that he played with the Packers he had 431 catches, which is the sixth most catches in Packer history. Sources say that he re-signed to the team with intentions of retiring as a Packer.
Freeman occasionally is an analyst with ESPN where he occasionally shares his opinions on ESPN First Take
ESPN First Take
ESPN First Take is an American morning sports talk program on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. The show was formerly known as Cold Pizza. The official switch was made on May 7, 2007. Two back-to-back two-hour episodes air each weekday from Monday through Friday, with the live episode airing from 10 a.m...
and NFL Live
NFL Live
NFL Live is a National Football League studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m and 12:30 a.m ET on the ESPN cable network. Formerly known as NFL 2Night, the program is the only NFL-related studio program to air during the week...
mostly during football season, he also appeared on ESPN College Gameday in support of his alma mater Virginia Tech. Freeman now appears on Redskins Kickoff and Redskins Postgame Live as a commentator on Comcast SportsNet Washington.