“I remember an eighth-grade football game, Josh playing running back, where he was a little banged up and the mental toughness he exhibited said that this guy could be something special,” said his dad, former coach Ron Freeman.īy the time he graduated high school, it was easy to see why Freeman had attracted the attention of so many college football coaches.
He was with the Bucs until 2013, and later played for the Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts. Overall, he threw 44 touchdown passes and ran for 343 yards and 20 more TDs.įrom there, Freeman was a first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 and spent seven seasons in the National Football League. With future NFL star Jordy Nelson as his favorite target there, Freeman threw for 8,078 yards in three seasons, which still stands as the best in K-State history. Which makes him deserving of induction into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, with the Class of 2020.Īt Grandview High School, he passed for more than 7,000 yards – a school record – and earned Class 4 All-State selection as a quarterback in 20 before going on to Kansas State University.
On Kansas City’s south side, just east of old Highway 71, the football stadium at Grandview High School once featured a star attraction, blue-chip recruit Josh Freeman.Īs a freshman, he won a starting role at linebacker and later spent two seasons at quarterback, a role which generated interest from Power 5 schools such as Notre Dame and scholarship offers from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa and Kansas.įortunately, Freeman kept it all in perspective, allowing him to succeed not only at Grandview but later in college and the National Football League.