ALS QB FREEMAN SAYS HE LEARNED FROM HIS MISTAKES
Former NFL starter hoping to turn career around with team desperate for a leader
The gated six-bedroom, six-bath estate Josh Freeman owns on Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa Bay remains on the market — asking price just under US$2 million — although he might move back in.
The five-year, US$26-million deal he signed with the NFL’s Buccaneers? Most of that was invested, Freeman insists.
How things have changed for the former first-round NFL draft choice. If he didn’t realize that before signing a two-year deal last January with the Alouettes, he most certainly did when he was with the Brooklyn Bolts, playing in something called the Fall Experimental Football League.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. “I like playing football. It’s an opportunity to go out and play. Honestly, that’s it. It’s not hard. I’m a team guy, always have been,” Freeman said Thursday, as he made the rounds of the interview room at CFL Week in Winnipeg.
Freeman was one of six Als players — all 30 or older — participating in this media- and fanrelated event, now in its second year.
The fact Freeman, who recently turned 30, is here, in this place and league, tells you everything you need to know about his rocky career and bittersweet story. First-round NFL draft choices aren’t supposed to end up in Canada, trying one last time to resurrect a career that seemed so full of promise and potential once upon a time.
“I never thought this was going to come to fruition,” he admitted.
Freeman once was hailed as the Bucs’ first franchise quarterback. Indeed, at 21, he was the youngest starting quarterback in Tampa Bay history. And he did well enough in 2010, his second season, to twice be named the NFC’s player of the week.
He passed for 3,451 yards in 2010, along with 25 touchdowns while being intercepted only six times. Then the roller-coaster ride began.
He slumped in 2011, rebounded in ’12, only to crash and burn the following season. The year began poorly and Freeman was benched in favour of Mike Glennon. Freeman was released after Tampa couldn’t convince another team to take him off its hands.
He left the organization having passed for 13,534 yards and 80 touchdowns. There were 66 interceptions, and Freeman completed 58.2 per cent of his throws. His career was derailed, reportedly, by disagreements with coaches, poor personal decisions and mediocre play.
Perhaps the final straw was when he failed to materialize for a team photo, Freeman claiming he was running late. But it smelled of a lack of responsibility.
“If I knew then what I know now — you always say that — things would have gone differently for a lot of reasons,” he said. “That’s the thing about living. Things aren’t always going to go your way. I can only see the world from my vantage point. I look back and think ... I was starting an NFL game at 21. How young it is.
“I wish we would have won every single game, but you can’t look back. All you can do is learn and grow from it.”
Released by the Bucs, Freeman played one game for the Minnesota Vikings before signing with the New York Giants and then Miami Dolphins. He played one game for the Indianapolis Colts in January 2016 and hasn’t played since. Obviously, had things progressed differently, Freeman would still be in the NFL.
There were reports of him oversleeping, being disengaged in team meetings and being more interested in the Florida party scene. Freeman admitted he has taken some wrong turns along the road, but given the time to look back and reflect, claimed he has grown in so many ways.
“Understanding the grand scheme of things,” he said. “I’m just a piece of the puzzle. I have to be the piece I’m supposed to be.”
If Freeman is to resurrect his career with the Als, and potentially parlay that into one more NFL shot, he might never have such a glorious opportunity fall into his lap. It’s no secret the Als are the only CFL team without a legitimate starting quarterback. When Freeman reports for training camp in May, his competition will come from veteran Drew Willy, who at least has started and won games in the league, Matt Shiltz and Antonio Pipkin.
“The only thing people are going to question is the quarterback. Still. That’s fine,” Als tailback Tyrell Sutton said.
“We’re the only team that doesn’t have a starting quarterback, and I’ve been through 13 of ’em. Whoever’s back there, I’m going to protect them. I don’t care.
“Play the game. It’s not hard. We’re here for a reason. You’re not exceptionally dumb to have gotten this far. If you can’t read the coverage, take off and run. Throw it to the open guy. It’s as simple as that, but it’s as difficult as the moving parts.
“I don’t know who the hell’s going to be in there. But when the blitz is coming, throw me the ball. Or just hand me the ball.”
It won’t help Freeman when the games start for real, but Hamilton receiver and return specialist Brandon Banks believes the guy has the goods. Banks should know, the two having been college teammates at Kansas State. Banks believes the Als have inherited a franchise quarterback and leader.
“I think he’s going to be what Montreal has needed,” Banks said. “He’s got a big arm. The field’s big. He doesn’t have to throw it in a tight window. There’s going to be a lot for him to learn, of course ... a lot of motions. But I think the game’s going to be a lot more wide open for him and he’s going to be able to play more freely.”