Green Bay Packers: 50 greatest players in franchise history

Greatest players in Green Bay Packers history: 47. Antonio Freeman

For a good bit of the Brett Favre era in Green Bay, Antonio Freeman was the guy in the Packers receiving corps. He would have big shoes to fill in the wake of Sterling Sharpe’s early retirement. Though he might have been later outshined by guys like Donald Driver, Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson in the future, Freeman was pretty good in his own right with Green Bay.

Freeman would play nine of his 10 professional seasons in Green Bay over two stints. He initially came to the Packers as a third-round pick in the 1995 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech. Upon arriving in Green Bay, Favre would tap into his prime as a multi-time NFL MVP. Freeman was the team’s leading receiver during both Favre runs to the Super Bowl in the late 1990s with Mike Holmgren as Green Bay’s head coach.

Three times did Freeman have over 1,000 receiving yards in a season for the Packers. In 1998, he led the league in receiving with 1,424 yards. This helped him make his lone trip to the Pro Bowl and earn his only All-Pro first team nod. Freeman would remain a productive player during his first eight years with Green Bay.

He played another high-end year with the 2002 Philadelphia Eagles for his former Packers offensive coach Andy Reid. Freeman would return to the Packers for what would prove to be his final NFL regular season in 2003. He briefly played with the 2004 Miami Dolphins in the preseason, but opted to retire as a Packer in 2007. Freeman had 431 catches for 6,651 yards and 57 touchdowns during his nine-year Packer career over two stints.