Former Colts DE Dwight Freeney spoke about how he got injured against the Jets back in 2010.
While we’re obviously complete advocates of player safety, the extent to which the NFL goes to protect quarterbacks is nothing short of maddening.
On a weekly basis, we see minor hits and bang-bang plays flagged for unnecessary roughness, and the rare time that a dirty hit is executed — look no further than the vicious helmet-to-helmet hit Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton was on the receiving end of on Sunday — the league refuses to step in and hand down a suspension.
The double standard is jarring to say the least, but it goes without saying that defenders lives have been made markedly more difficult with these new generation rules. Well, it shouldn’t be surprising that they managed to get in the head of former Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney during the 2010 AFC Championship Game against the New York Jets.
Freeney, of course, was famously injured trying to avoid getting penalized for a late hit on quarterback Mark Sanchez and Indianapolis went on to lose their Super Bowl clash against the Saints a few weeks later.
Why are we bringing this up? We’re glad you asked. In a recent interview with Bleacher Report, the former seven-time Pro Bowler offered up some hilarious insight on his hatred for quarterbacks and how the play screwed the Colts out of a championship.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1321467615953506305?s=20
The irony right? Making the “smart” football play couldn’t have been easy for a player who racked up 125.5 sacks and 148 QB hits in his illustrious career, and it ultimately landed him on the shelf with a torn ligament in his right ankle and deprived him of a chance to compete for a championship at full strength.
We understand it was a freak incident, but Freeney’s injury just shines a glaring light on everything that’s wrong with the NFL’s insistence on protecting signal callers. And before fans come at our necks for recalling such a demoralizing moment in Colts history, we’re a decade removed from it and the former stud pass rusher clearly sees the humor in it all.
Dwight Freeney "couldn't wait to hit Mark Sanchez" and is even more anxious to hit Tim Tebow (should he play). http://tinyurl.com/37pvvwr
— Sam Farmer (@LATimesfarmer) July 4, 2010
Freeney somehow convinced team doctors to let him suit up for the Super Bowl, and he miraculously managed to record Indianapolis’ only sack of the game.
There were obviously a plethora of things working against the Colts in their matchup with New Orleans, chief among them being the amazing Hurricane Katrina narrative, but we’re certainly left to wonder if the game would’ve been more competitive if their All-Pro DE was fully healthy.
What we do know, however, is that Freeney further cemented his status as a Colts legend for blasting both the NFL and Jets for his injury. Had he not been wary of being flagged, we might be talking about an entirely different outcome for Indy.
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