Colts legend unexpectedly declares Tom Brady toughest quarterback to sack

admin | April 18, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Freeney and Brady saw a lot of each other throughout their careers.

Former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney appeared on Keyshawn Johnson’s show “All Facts No Brakes” and discussed his stellar career, which spanned from 2002 to 2017. With 125.5 sacks in his career, he was asked about the most difficult quarterbacks to bring down, and he had two surprising answers.

Freeney’s first response was to long-time New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, with whom he has played on multiple occasions. Especially in big games, such as when the Colts and Patriots met in the AFC Championship game, and even when Freeney was on the Atlanta Falcons in 2016, the year they faced Brady in the Super Bowl and lost horribly, despite leading.

Freeney talks about what made Brady hard to sack when he was with Colts

The two undoubtedly have history, but Freeney believes Brady may be viewed as a “surprising answer” because he is not the most mobile quarterback ever. However, he would discuss the Patriots’ method, such as Brady throwing away balls more frequently to avoid being sacked.

“I’ll give you two responses to that, all right. I believe one unexpected response, maybe two shocking answers, but I think one Tom Brady wasn’t easy, and the reason is that from a system sense, they were getting rid of the ball in less than two seconds,” Freeney explained.

“They knew the strength of our defense, they knew what was going on and said look, ‘I don’t care if you’re open or not receiver this ball is coming out done,'” Freeney continued. “You know, I think when you’re playing against a guy like that, you better have your best move dialed in, and even if you have your best move dialed in and you win on your best move, you still might not get there, which is very frustrating as a rusher because you know this ball won’t be in this man’s hands because he doesn’t want to be sacked. I think he’s definitely one of the most undervalued in that regard; people don’t talk about it enough.

Freeney explains how dangerous Steve McNair was as a player

This makes a lot of sense, and it’s one of the many reasons Brady is regarded as not only the greatest quarterback of all time, but also the most intelligent. The Colts veteran also listed former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair as being difficult to bring down, citing his strength and elusiveness.

“I think Steve McNair, Air McNair, he was country strong and I would come around that corner and I would hit him and I swear I felt like he hit me back,” Freeney was quoted as saying. “I mean, he’s like hitting a wall, but the thing about him is that he was also mobile, so he could simply be elusive and cause you to miss. So, when you try to tackle that quarterback, you have to figure out what you’re going to do, because you may hit him as hard as you can, but he can cause you to miss.

So, if you say, “Okay, you know what?” Let me not go as hard as you can and simply attempt to tie him up; he’ll throw you off.’ “I believe Steve is a beast man.”

Freeney had an amazing NFL career and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2024. He won the Super Bowl with the Colts in 2007, made three first-team All-Pro appearances, went to seven Pro Bowls, and was an outstanding collegiate player at Syracuse.