Finally, long-time Colts’ standout Dwight Freeney right at home in Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton

CANTON, Ohio – There was a time when Dwight Freeney essentially was lost in what would be his home away from home.

He was that guy wandering aimlessly around the Pro Football Hall of Fame complex, seeking direction.

Freeney was in town in the summer of 2021 for the induction ceremonies of former teammates Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James and wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

“I got dropped off at the wrong entrance,’’ he said, smiling sheepishly. “I had to find a way to get from that side over here to where I had to be. Someone had to sneak me in, completely by accident.’’

Now, Freeney probably has a key fob to the facility.

It was mid-May and the long-time Colts/NFL pass-rush standout was casually lounging in an archives room at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was home.

“The first time was by accident,’’ Freeney said. “This time I earned it.’’

He earned inclusion in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 – enshrinement ceremonies are Aug. 3 – by revolutionizing the way the NFL evaluated collegiate pass rushers, introducing his pass-rush peers to his hard-to-copy spin move and terrorizing the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Steve McNair, Eli Manning and dozens of other quarterbacks.

The size issue? Freeney was 6-1, 268 pounds and drafted 11 ^th overall by the Colts in 2002. The prototype was Julius Peppers: 6-7, 295. The Carolina Panthers selected him No. 2 overall that year and he’s part of Freeney’s Hall of Fame honor class.

“I know I paved the way for it to be OK for people to be quote-unquote undersized at that position,’’ Freeney said. “They looked at it as you had to be 6-5 and 280 pounds. Look at Julius. “For me it was, ‘Well, I’m not him, but I can still play.’’’

Right at home

Freeney resides in West Palm Beach, Florida with wife Brittany and daughters Olivia and Alana.

They’re comfortable, and Freeney can scratch his serious golf itch. A few miles away in Hobe Sound is Michael Jordan’s private course, The Grove XXIII. Freeney and Jordan have become fast friends, and routinely form a fiercely competitive tandem on the links. Freeney plays five days a week and often 36 holes a day.

But Canton is, well, different.

Memorabilia and videos remind everyone of many of the NFL’s indelible moments. The ambiance is rooted in and hovers over the 378 bronze busts. John Madden once wondered if the various busts had conversations after the lights went out.

“Yeah, it feels like that,’’ Freeney said. “It’s awesome because those are guys you grew up watching and idolizing. Now, you’re a part of it.’’

For those keeping track, Freeney is No. 372.

“That number meant nothing to me,’’ he said with a laugh. “If you had told me that number two months ago, I’d be like, ‘Whatever. Now it means everything. To know that there’s 350 million people who’ve played the game of football at some level in some way and 378 are here, it’s amazing. I’m happy I’m here.’’

The path to Canton

Youngsters dream. They close their eyes and see themselves reaching the pinnacle of their preferred sport.

Some fantasize about earning a spot in Canton.

At an early age, Freeney wanted to be the next Bo.

“I wanted to be the greatest player ever,’’ he said. “I wanted to be like Bo Jackson. I wanted to play baseball. I wanted to play football. I wanted to be an all-time great.’’

He paused, then smiled.

“At age 7, what I wanted my car to be was a limousine,’’ he said. “That’s what I wanted to drive.’’

Athletically, Freeney would develop into a top-tier performer in football, baseball and as a soccer goalie at Bloomfield (Conn.) High School. Being vertically challenged – 6-1, remember? – sabotaged thoughts of a basketball career. A 500-plus-foot home run remains part of Bloomfield lore.

That was followed by an All-America career at Syracuse, which led to first-round entry into the NFL.

He never was driven by the lure of Canton.

“I didn’t really think about it,’’ Freeney insisted. “I really just lived the moment of whatever moment I was in. The only time I thought about it was when someone else mentioned it. That normally happens toward the end of your career and someone says, ‘future Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney’ or ‘soon to become . . .’ Then you’re like, ‘Well, maybe. I actually might be that.’’’

Joe Thomas, a long-time Cleveland Browns left tackle and first-ballot Hall of Fame selection considered Freeney a lock to join him in Canton.

“Dwight Freeney was the best pass rusher I faced in my 11 seasons,’’ he said. “DeMarcus Ware was the close second, but nobody gave me more problems than Dwight Freeney. I don’t think anyone was more of a game-changer that I played against.’’

In 16 seasons, including the first 11 with the Colts, Freeney piled up 125.5 sacks. That’s No. 18 in NFL history. His 47 forced fumbles are tied-3 ^rd most behind former teammate Robert Mathis (54) and Peppers (52). He helped the Colts reach two Super Bowls and capture one world championship.

Jason Peters played in 19 seasons and 248 games and was selected All-Pro twice and to the Pro Bowl nine times. He had to fend off Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, Simeon Rice, Nick Bosa and so many others.

The toughest to block?

“For me, it was Dwight Freeney by far,’’ Peters told The Athletic. “You know why? Because all his rushes looked exactly the same. He set you up better than anyone. His speed rush looked like the bull rush. The bull rush looked like the spin. The spin started like the rest of them. Man, he was slippery. Hardest guy to stay in front of I’ve ever seen.’’

About that spin move

Credit Freeney’s love of basketball and video games for the development of his maddening spin move. He was especially a fan of And1 Mixtape.

“I think it came out in the ‘90s. It was street basketball and guys trying to make the defender look absolutely silly,’’ Freeney said. “Guys would be traveling and basically putting the Harlem Globetrotters moves on guys. I was a big And1 Mixtape fan. I was on the practice field one day and I wanted to figure out a way to kind of bring that to the football game. For me, I wanted to make that offensive tackle look as silly as possible. And the thing that developed for me was ‘How can I make this guy completely miss?’ It was spinning. And it was natural for me to do. That’s where it all started. I did it in high school and kept doing those kind of things.’’

The late John Teerlinck, one of the NFL’s premier pass-rush coaches and Freeney’s position coach with the Colts, saw no reason to tinker with the disruptive but unorthodox move.

“His whole thing was, ‘I don’t care if you back-flip or somersault,’’’ Freeney said. “He said, ‘You can do anything as long as you get to the quarterback. You start at Point A and get to Point B.’ In the offseason, I would work on it. I’d put one dummy bag here, three other dummy bags. I would spin three times, spin four times. I wanted to make sure that sword was as sharp as possible. When it came to the game, it would be like me trying to tie my shoelaces. It was automatic.’’

Reinforcement for the technique came from watching Colts’ Hall of Fame wide receiver Marvin Harrison every day in practice.

“What made Marvin so great is every route looked the same until it wasn’t the same,’’ he said. “Every route looked like he was going to run deep, and then he would just stop, or he would look inside, or he’d run a post or an out route. Watching him every day in practice helped me be a better pass rusher. I wanted things to look the same. I wanted my speed rush to look like my bull rush until it was too late, to look like my spin until it was too late, to just running around the edge until it was too late.’’

Irsay, the presenter

For the third time, a Colt has selected owner Jim Irsay to present him for induction. Freeney’s decision follows those of Harrison and James.

“It started off with Jim,’’ he said. “Jim is the owner of the team and I think it would mean a lot to the Horseshoe and the Colts for a representative from what was my golden years and for it to be Jim. I know it would mean the world to him and it means the world to me.’’

Tony Dungy, a member of the Class of 2016, was an option.

“But I ended up with Jim because it all started with Jim,’’ Freeney said. “It’s just the way he treats the guys. Look, he will do anything for the players. He bends over backwards for his players. He bleeds blue.’’

Freeney spent time with the Chargers, Arizona, Atlanta, Detroit and Seattle after leaving Indy. He helped the Falcons reach Super Bowl LI.

He still bleeds blue.

“Absolutely,’’ Freeney said. “It might be a little tinge of yellow (Seattle) with a sprinkle of red because I was with the Falcons. But it’s dominated by blue because I was there for so long. My time there was absolutely unbelievable.’’

You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51 .

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