Gold Jacket Spotlight: Competitive fire spins inside Dwight Freeney

No one can don a Gold Jacket created by Haggar unless he has competed on an elite level throughout his football journey. The daily desire to be the absolute best versions of themselves drives these men.

A strong competitive desire mixed with some creativity allowed Hall of Famer DWIGHT FREENEY to cement his legacy in Canton — and this week to become the focus of the Gold Jacket Spotlight.

“Dwight is driven,” his mother, Joy, recounted in an interview with Hall of Fame selector Mike Chappell. “He always found a way. He never took ‘no’ for an answer.” 

When it came to sacking opposing quarterbacks, that “never say no” attitude combined with Dwight’s inventiveness led to the creation of a defensive spin that became his go-to move en route to the quarterback.

Competitiveness certainly fueled Dwight’s nonstop motor, but what sparked the creativity to use a spin move on defense? On the podcast “In The Front Row” with Mike Vaccaro, Dwight said it came from his love of the game of basketball.

“How (could) I bring AND1 mixtapes to the game of football? That is how it kind of developed and started for me,” Dwight said. “So, it wasn’t me watching film, watching another player, and trying to emulate him. There was no one really like me, so I went out and just decided to be as creative as possible and just have fun on the football field and there it goes.

“That is the creation of the spin move the way I used it, and now you see it throughout the entire league all the time.”

Throughout his Hall of Fame career, roughly 30% of Dwight’s 136.5 sacks (regular season and postseason) in the NFL came courtesy of the patented spin move, according to reviews of game footage.

Hall of Fame coach TONY DUNGY knew there was more to Dwight’s game than pirouetting on the football field. 

“Dwight was very explosive, had that acceleration off the ball, quick first step; he was powerful,” Dungy said. “He really had three things he could do: He could beat you up the field with great speed; then, of course, he’d start you up the field and spin; and then if you got to the point where I’m going to anticipate these moves, he had the power to run over you. He had it all.”

So, when twirling his way around offensive linemen did not complete the task, the speed and “never say no” competitive spirit would do the trick.

Today, that competitive flame gets fanned on the golf course — on most days next to one of Dwight’s childhood idols and greatest competitors of all time, Michael Jordan. Dwight describes Jordan as, “like a big brother.”

That brotherhood with MJ was born more than 20 years ago when Dwight was invited to play in the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational in the Bahamas. Shortly after picking up the game of golf to pass the time during the offseason in the Midwest, Dwight was invited to participate in the invitational.

He said he loves the game because, “When you don’t hit that ball and it is sitting right there, it’s nobody’s fault but yours, and that taps into that competitive edge that I have — that competitive fire I have that always burns and it is never going to go away. So, to kind of quench that thirst is the game of golf.”