WESTFIELD, Ind. – Before Dwight Freeney was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton on Saturday, Colts head coach Shane Steichen held his own sort of ceremony at Grand Park for the former Colts defensive end by showing Freeney's highlights in the team meeting.
Steichen wanted to show his players what Freeney was all about as a player and what he meant to the franchise. Freeney, who played for the Colts from 2002-2012, helped win Super Bowl XLI, was a three-time First-Team All Pro and made seven Pro Bowls during his time with the Colts. He is also second in franchise history in sacks with 107 ½.
"Guys see that and what it takes to be elite like he was," Steichen said Sunday. "You know, you strive for greatness every day and that's what he did, so congrats to him."
The 2024 Colts are no strangers to striving for greatness; even during training camp, players like running back Jonathan Taylor and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner have made it clear they want a championship ring. They all look up to the players that paved the way for them and showed what success looks, and they want to see that confetti fall for themselves.
For Zaire Franklin, who is chasing those big wins as much as anyone, witnessing someone like Freeney earn such an accolade as a spot in the Hall of Fame just motivates him even more.
"I had an opportunity to hear him speak a couple of times, had an opportunity to meet him," Franklin said. "Just knowing the impact he had on the game, it's special."
It's not just the Colts and the NFL that Freeney left a lasting impact on, though. He left his alma mater, Syracuse University, as one of the best defensive players in school history, setting a school record for sacks in a season (17.5). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
Who else on the Colts went to Syracuse, and who else also left the program with his name all over the record books? Franklin. The linebacker was only the second three-time captain in school history and finished his career tied for ninth in program history with 31.5 tackles for loss.
Franklin carried that effort into his career with the Colts immediately, and in the six seasons with the team he's been a four-time team captain (2020-2023). Franklin set a single-season franchise record in 2023 with 179 tackles and has 409 career tackles (16 for loss).
And he's just as impactful off the field.
"He holds everyone to a high standard," Steichen said. "The peer-to-peer accountability – it can come from the coaches and that's great, that's our job to do that – but when it comes player-to-player, that's when it takes on a whole 'nother level. And he does a phenomenal job of that."
Franklin's motivation and desire to hold everyone – including himself – to such standards comes from watching those before him and wanting to go down in history just the same way. Freeney is one of those players, but Franklin also draws motivation from former Colts and Syracuse wide receiver Marvin Harrison, who also grew up in Philadelphia just like Franklin.
Harrison's career with the Colts, spanning from 1996-2008, overlapped with Freeney's as the two were both on the Super Bowl-winning team in 2006. He was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016 and is considered one of the best wide receivers in NFL history.
Basically, Franklin has a lot of guys to draw inspiration from – and he's doing just that.
"We're trying to take over now," Franklin said. "We're trying to plant our flag."
Twenty years from now, Franklin said, he wants people to be talking about how great the 2024 Colts were, just like people talk about how great Freeney and Harrison were. The first step to that? Winning.
"There's a lot of great players from that era that we ain't talk about no more because they ain't win like they did," Franklin said. "So that's the goal. We've gotta win."
