New Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney expects Browns' Myles Garrett to join him in Canton
Dwight Freeney, stopping in Browns country Friday as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024, gladly fielded a few Cleveland questions.
Freeney, who may have been the fastest defensive end ever to play in the league founded in Canton in 1920, weighed in on Myles Garrett, 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
"He's the best defensive lineman in the game," Freeney said during a break in events featuring the Hall of Fame class that will be enshrined Aug. 3. "I think he's been the best for a few years now, as a pass rusher."
Garrett, 28, has 88.5 sacks in 100 games in seven seasons since the Browns drafted him first overall in 2017.
Freeney made 70.5 sacks in his first seven seasons (2002-08), covering 103 games with the Colts. He, too, was 28 at that point. He soldiered on, making 32 sacks from 2009-11.
Garrett's contract is such that he stands to be in Cleveland for quite a while.
"He has all the skills," Freeney said. "It's weird for him to move at his size the way he does.
"He works his moves. He uses his athleticism. He uses his hands."
Freeney chatted with The Repository just around the corner from the dimly lit room full of enshrinees busts.
"He's gonna be there," Freeney said of Garrett, meaning in the Hall of Fame.
Freeney enters the Hall a year after former Browns left tackle Joe Thomas went in. Thomas regarded Freeney as almost a nemesis. Freeney was 35 and playing for the Cardinals when he made a sack in a 34-20 win at Cleveland.
Thomas said few people understood the preparation necessary to deal with Freeney. That worked two ways.
"I spent a lot of time studying Joe, trying to find a weakness in his approach," Freeney said. "I couldn't find any.
"I would keep turning on film, turning on film, trying to find somebody who got to him.
"There wasn't anybody. I would think, I'm going to have get creative."
Freeney still looks like a bruiser. He is gregarious and has a sense of humor. At 44, there's still something about him that makes one assume he looked opponents in the eye in a way that said "I'm gonna kick your …"
Thomas had a sarcastic sense of humor, but Freeney says they never exchanged barbs or words on the field.
"Maybe he was too busy trying to figure me out, and I was too busy trying to figure him out," Freeney said.
Freeney came out of Syracuse as a No. 11 overall draft pick. Running back William Green was the Browns' top choice that year, at No. 16.
It was the draft in which Houston and Carolina, as first-year expansion teams, had the first two picks. The Texans took quarterback David Carr; it didn't work out. The Panthers took defensive end Julius Peppers; he was in Canton with Freeney as part of the Class of 2024.
Peppers played 112 games across his first seven seasons, a bit more than Freeney and Garrett. The sacks scoreboard through their first seven years: Garrett 88.5, Freeney 70.5, Peppers 70.5 (yes, Freeney and Peppers had the same number).
At 6-foot-7, 295 pounds, Peppers was a monster, even compared to the 6-4, 272-pound Garrett. At 6-1, 268, Freeney was a puzzler.
On the plus side, Freeney could squat-lift 750 pounds and bench 500. He ran a 4.4 40. He hit a ton.
NFL people feared he was too short.
"I used what I had," he said.
The new Hall of Famers were in town in part for the Hall of Fame Ribs burnoff. He knows Canton reasonably well.
His former Colts teammate Mike Doss played for Canton McKinley in the stadium next to the Hall.
"Dossy!" Freeney said at the mention of the name. "He played every play like it was his last."
Freeney was a rookie in 2002, when the Browns showed signs of breaking through. A 13-6 home loss to Carolina (Peppers had a sack) dropped the record to 6-6.
In Game 14 against the Colts, the Browns blew a 23-14 lead. Freeney sacked Tim Couch twice in a 28-23 Colts win.
That left the Browns at 7-7, but a big game from Green against Atlanta got them to 9-7. In the playoffs, they led by 17 points at Pittsburgh before losing.
In 2007, the year after Freeney helped the Colts win a Super Bowl, the Browns were 10-6 after beating he 49ers. To get in the playoffs on a tie-breaker, they needed the Colts to win a late game against Tennessee.
The Colts were 13-2, their playoff seeding decided. Peyton Manning played a mail-it-in first half and was replaced in the second half by Jim Sorgi. The Colts' 16-10 loss bummed out every Browns fan.
Freeney appeared in 18 playoff games with the Colts. Garrett has been in three postseason games with the Browns. Thomas's only shot at a playoff game, in 2007, was ruined by the Colts.
Here are some fun facts on Freeney's long run in Indianapolis, relative to Thomas' and Garrett's experiences in Cleveland.
Through Freeney's first nine years in Indianapolis, the Colts' only starting quarterback was Manning.
Through Thomas' first nine years in Cleveland, the starting quarterbacks included Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey, Bruce Gradkowski, Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Colt McCoy, Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell, Brandon Hoyer, Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Connor Shaw and Austin Davis.
Starting QBs in Garrett's seven seasons have been DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan, Tyrod Taylor, Baker Mayfield, Case Keenum, Nick Mullens, Jacoby Brissett, Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, P.J. Walker, Jeff Driskel and Joe Flacco.
From a team standpoint, Freeney had a more stable path to Canton than Thomas did or Garrett has.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Dwight Freeney sees Browns Myles Garrett in Football Hall of Fame
