Jerrell Freeman Proves He’s a Great Teammate with One Quote
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The Chicago Bears landed themselves a talented, versatile inside linebacker when they inked Jerrell Freeman to a three-year contract. Bears players will be excited to learn they got themselves a hell of a teammate too. Freeman was a respected member of the Indianapolis Colts defense for the past four seasons, and originally tried to re-up with Indy and stay put. However, when the Colts couldn’t match his financial terms, he decided to test free agency and GM Ryan Pace scooped him up.
Freeman hasn’t been the only Colts player to depart Indianapolis this offseason via free agency. Former Colts tight end Coby Fleener signed a massive five-year $36 million deal with the New Orleans Saints. After Fleener signed the deal, he was asked by the New Orleans media what went wrong in Indianapolis last season. Fleener responded.
"I think it’s one of those situations where it really reveals character. The guys that kept fighting through it- knowing that we may not have our star quarterback on the field but we still have a chance to win the game- those are the guys you want kind of in your corner. And the other guys, it becomes pretty apparent that they’re along for the ride."
Those comments are rather surprising considering Fleener never hinted at anything of the sort last season and originally wanted to re-sign with the Colts. It was the Colts that chose Dwayne Allen over him and let Fleener leave to go to New Orleans. If that’s truly how Fleener felt about many of his teammates one would question why he wanted to stay in Indy in the first place. Perhaps he is just bitter the Colts told him to go elsewhere but mouthing off to the media has never been a good idea for anyone.
Enter Jerrell Freeman. Freeman was asked by long-time Indianapolis reporter Bob Kravitz and Freeman sounded off.
"Fleener, he didn’t have the guts. That [expletive] pisses me off. And he must’ve been looking in the mirror when he did the interview. I despise guys like that. That’s what little girls do, talk about you when you’re not around. I’m a grown man. If I see something I don’t like, I’m going to go have a face-to-face convo with that player/players and we are going to get an understanding! I feel like I had a hand in building what’s over there (in Indianapolis), so he’s [expletive] on me, too. That’s a [expletive] move."
Wow.
One thing is certain, Jerrell Freeman is going to have his teammates’ backs. If you say something or come after one of his teammates, you may as well come right after Freeman because he’s going to take it personally.
The Bears could use this type of player on the team. They are only one year removed from having a locker room that quit on its coach and didn’t stand up for each other when other teammates went on the offensive. Pace and John Fox are changing the culture and Freeman is quite an example of that.
Freeman has a lot of Pernell McPhee in him. He’s going to play hard, play with attitude, lead on the field, and lead in the locker room. There is no question that there’s a culture change in Chicago. The rest of the league is starting to sense it and that’s a big part of why free agents are taking less money to come to Chicago. They see something exciting is happening and they want to be a part of it. Freeman is just one more example of that. The Bears are on the come, don’t cross them, or you’ll have to answer to Jerrell Freeman.
Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.