Former Syracuse football star Dwight Freeney keeps adding to his resume. Yesterday, he was named a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That makes Freeney one of the last 15 candidates standing. Of that group, up to five will be selected for the Hall of Fame on the weekend of the Super Bowl.
It’s been a good year for Dwight Freeney. He was just inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame, becoming the tenth former member of the Orange to do so. Now, the defensive end with one of the most devastating spin moves ever is among the most celebrated group at both the collegiate and pro level.
Freeney’s resume at SU is a long one. He was a unanimous All-American in 2001, when he was also Big East’s Most Valuable Player. Freeney also has one of the best single-game performances of all time, a 4.5-sack outing in his junior season. To this day, he holds the Orange’s program record for most tackles for loss in a career at 50.5. All those stats led to team success, too. Syracuse won two bowl games during his tenure: the 1999 Music City Bowl and the Insight.com Bowl.
Dwight Freeney was amazing in college, but his NFL resume might be even better. He spent his prime with the Indianapolis Colts, where he racked up plenty of hardware. Freeney made four All-Pro Teams, three of which were selections to the First Team. The defensive end also made seven Pro Bowls. To put the cherry on top, Freeney won a Super Bowl in 2007. It shouldn’t be too surprising that he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000s.
If inducted, Freeney would become the ninth Syracuse alum to join the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That would tie Miami for the sixth-most of any college in the nation.
