Antonio Freeman was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 27, 1972. Freeman, who is nicknamed “Free” or “Buttons”, was named Offensive Player of the Year by the Baltimore Sun when he was 1989 senior at Polytechnic High School in Baltimore. His team went 10-0 that year and won the Maryland Group A championship.
Freeman went to Virginia Tech to play college football, where he was a three-year starter. He departed as the Hokies’ all-time leading receiver with 121 receptions (for 2,207 yards). Freeman also set the all-time school record with 22 touchdown receptions.
Freeman was one of three third-round draft picks by the Green Bay Packers in 1995. In the postseason his rookie year, Freeman returned a punt for 76 yards and a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in an NFC Wild Card Playoff game.
By his second year with the Packers in 1996, Antonio Freeman became the favorite target of quarterback Brett Favre. Although he broke his arm that season, Freeman still caught 56 passes for 933 yards and nine touchdowns. In the postseason, Freeman also put up nice numbers, as he caught nine passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns. One of those touchdowns came in Super Bowl XXXI, as No. 86 caught an 81-yard pass from Favre, as the Packers beat the New England Patriots 35-21.
In his overall regular-season career with the Packers, Freeman caught 431 passes for 6,651 yards and 57 touchdowns. That puts him at No. 8 all-time as a Green Bay receiver in terms of catches and No. 7 all-time in receiving yards.
In the postseason, in 14 games as a Packer, Freeman caught 47 passes for 748 yards and 10 touchdowns (which is still a team record).
Freeman played eight years with the Packers and also one year in 2002 with the Philadelphia Eagles, as he hauled in 46 passes for 600 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught six passes for 75 yards in the postseason for the Eagles that year.
Besides being a Super Bowl champion with the Packers in 1996, Freeman also was named first-team All-Pro once and also went to one Pro Bowl.
Freeman was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2009.
Freeman’s hobbies include music and basketball and he is a devout fan of his hometown Baltimore Orioles.
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