- Back in the day,
when I picked up the game of football,
AND1 mixtapes was big.
One day I was out at practice, and we was kinda just doing different moves.
I said, “You know what? I’mma start spinning, I’mma start drop step.
I’mma do this type of thing in football, see if it works.”
Sure enough, I was making people miss.
♪♪♪
- Dwight Freeney, what’s good with you? - Hey, I would give you
the dap, but, you know.
- Hey, It’s different times now. It’s different times now. - Yeah, absolutely.
- How you livin’ during ‘rona, man?
- Right now I’m retired, so it’s easy.
You know what I’m saying? I’m not doing much.
It’s definitely insane.
- You are a legend upstate.
You played at Syracuse. I grew up in Texas, so I was Big 12 Country, OK?
I didn’t watch too much Big East football. - Yeah, yeah.
- But when Vick was on, people was watching.
- Yeah.
- Do you have a memorable story at all
during your time playing against Vick, Virginia Tech-‘Cuse, Big East Football?
- Oh, absolutely.
I mean, Mike Vick, we laugh about it now.
My junior year when we played him
in the Carrier Dome, it happened to be my best individual game of my entire career.
- High school, college, pro—best game?
- Best game ever.
I don’t know what came over me, man.
It got to a point where the ball would snap in slow motion.
You know, I would already be moving, and the ball is moving, and that offensive tackle is still in his stance.
He can’t even move. I’m, like, three steps past him.
Mike ain’t have a chance that game, man.
- How crazy was it?
What numbers did you put up in that game that made it so crazy?
- Dude, I had 4.5 sacks.
Coulda probably had six sacks that game.
I was on a whole ‘nother planet that game.
But in the end, that game was probably my most memorable game
for, one reason, having a great game,
but the second reason is I ended up getting hurt in that game.
- You got hurt?
- I got hurt hitting him.
- What happened?
- He ducked one particular play.
His helmet hit me right here in my abdomen.
I ended up having a lacerated spleen from that situation.
So I get hurt by hitting a quarterback.
- Supposed to be the other way around. - So, yeah ,exactly.
So now, you know, that builds up my hatred for quarterbacks even more. You know what I’m saying?
I can’t hit y'all, y'all hurtin’ me. So nah, nah, I can’t have that.
- You played with a lacerated spleen? Did you know that during the game?
- No, listen. I played the rest of the game, didn’t know I had a lacerated spleen.
We played on Saturdays. On Monday, I woke up. Everything was in slow motion.
My eyes was blurry. I couldn’t even function.
Skin was popping. All types of stuff was happening to me.
The trainers, they didn’t know what was wrong with me.
So they had to quarantine me. I was like the first guy to get quarantined.
- You were ahead of your time! - We goin’ full-circle now.
They did all types of different studies on me.
And they found out through CAT scans that I was bleeding internally.
They started giving me antibiotics.
I ended up being allergic to the penicillin.
So now all of a sudden, I got this lacerated spleen, I’m taking medicine I’m allergic to,
my skin is breaking out, all types of crazy stuff—
- You’re bleeding internally
- Bleeding internally just from hitting a quarterback.
- [Laughing]
- Right? It’s crazy!
- So how did it all get resolved?
I mean, you said you’re dealing with this for a couple of weeks. You still playing?
- Well, I’m on wrap for the rest of the year. I’m done.
I’m done, done, done.
I ended up losing 30, 40 pounds that junior year
- 30, 40 pounds?!
- It was crazy, man. I looked, I looked sick.
I was, like, 250-something to, like, 215.
I thought I was on my way out.
- You thought your career was done?
- Done!
The rest of the year I was done.
Ended up coming back in spring football, got my weight back up
and that was it.
- How the hell you put back 40 pounds?
- Man, I started eating.
- [Laughing]
- I started eating. I’m Jamaican, so—
- A lotta jerk and oxtail?
- Yeah, a lotta oxtail, a lotta curried goat,
you know what I’m saying? That’s what I was on.
- That’s crazy to think that
your career could have ended before it even started professionally.
How do you block that out?
I mean, your whole job is to hit the quarterback,
so every single time you’re rushing the quarterback, is that on your mind?
- Well, I have a hatred for quarterbacks.
- [Laughing]
- And you’re supposed to have a hatred for quarterbacks if you’re a guy who’s going after ‘em.
- When the Jets was in the AFC Championship, 2009-2010, they ended up playing us.
This is when these rules started coming out,
which destroyed me, which even gave me more fuel to hate ‘em.
It’s a strike zone.
Fourth quarter, we up two scores.
I’m going out, burning around the corner.
It’s a screen pass.
I got Sanchez lined up to completely just wipe him out.
- I can’t imagine what was going on in your mind. - Something goes through my head
saying, “You know what? Don’t hit the quarterback.
It’s close. You might get a penalty.
You might hurt the guy. I jump over him, do a little turn just so I don’t hit him.
- You avoided the quarterback?
- I avoided him.
When I land, he rolls on my ankle.
Completely severs the ligaments in my ankle. I have a third-degree high ankle sprain
just because I’m trying to avoid hitting a quarterback.
Now I’m supposed to be out four to six weeks.
The Super Bowl was in two weeks.
We probably lost the Super Bowl cuz I was hurt.
Never again am I gonna avoid a quarterback.
If I see one right now, I might give him a little—
- We ain’t got no quarterbacks on set, do we?
We ain’t got no high school quarterbacks? - Yeah, exactly!
- No peewee quarterbacks? No? We good? - If you played, you might get hit
We good? Seriously.
All right, cool.
So when you think of Mark Sanchez’s name now—
- Don’t let me see Mark Sanchez,
- [Laughing]
OK?
- “Remember that time I avoided you and had that high ankle sprain?”
I’mma give him a little forearm shiver.
Something. Something.
We ended up losing that Super Bowl, and I’m still upset about that.
- Was that the Saints?
- Yeah, to the Saints.
I don’t like talking about that.
- Say less.
- [Laughing]