Josh Freeman

Josh Freeman

Josh Freeman during his tenure at Kansas State.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career information
College:	Kansas State
NFL draft:	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17
Career history
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
NFC Player Of The Week (Week 5 - 2010) College awards and honors
Career NFL statistics as of 2010
TD–INT: 24–23 Passing Yards: 3,388 QB Rating: 71.7

Joshua Tyler "Josh" Freeman (born January 13, 1988 in Kansas City, Missouri) is the starting quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He was selected 17th overall by the Bucs in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas State.

High school career

Freeman passed for over 7,000 yards at Grandview High School where he was a four-star rated prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. As a sophomore, he threw for 1,946 yards and 24 passing touchdowns, leading Grandview to a 9-3 record and a spot in the quarterfinals of the Class 4 playoffs. In addition, he set 10 school records during his career at Grandview, including career passing yards (7,175), passing touchdowns (78), attempts (809), completions (385), yards passing in a game (404) and touchdowns in a game (6). As a junior, he topped 2,400 yards through the air with 23 touchdowns. As a senior, he was the #4 pro-style rated quarterback in the country by Rivals.com as well as being ranked as the #92 overall prospect in the nation by Rivals and the top player in the state of Missouri. He was the #9 quarterback nationally. He led Grandview to a 7-4 record, a district title and a berth in the sectional round of the Missouri state playoffs. He also completed 151-of-286 passes (53%) for 2,622 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2005. He also earned first team Class 4 all-state honors from the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Freeman was selected to the Kansas City Star All-Metro team and was the 2005 Tony Simone Award winner as the top player in the Kansas City metro area.

College career

Freeman originally committed to the University of Nebraska to play for former head coach Bill Callahan, but the newly hired head coach at Kansas State, Ron Prince, convinced Freeman to enroll at Kansas State instead.

As a freshman in 2006, Freeman appeared in 11 of 13 games that season, including starts in the final eight contests of 2006. He took over at quarterback during the second half at Baylor and directed the Kansas State offense the rest of the season. He was the only true freshman quarterback in the country to lead his team to a bowl game during 2006. He also passed for a Kansas State freshman record 1,780 yards on 140-of-270 passing (52%). He became the first true freshman to start a game at Kansas State since 1976. Additionally, he had consecutive 250+ yard passing games against Colorado and Texas, marking the first time a Kansas State quarterback had done so since Michael Bishop in 1998. He attempted a Kansas State freshman-record 47 passes against Nebraska, completing 23 for 272 yards. He earned his first career start against Oklahoma State and led the Wildcats to a comeback win. He finished the game 10-for-15 passing for 177 yards and ran for a game-winning 21-yard touchdown with 1:11 to go in the game. In 2007, he set new single-season school records for pass attempts, completions and yards after throwing for 3,353 yards and 18 touchdowns on 316-of-499 passing. In 2008, Freeman was 224 of 382 passing for 2,945 yards and 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season for a passer rating of 132.9. The 14 rushing touchdowns were the fourth-most in a single season by a Wildcat quarterback.

In his three year collegiate career, Freeman completed 680 passes for 8,078 yards and 44 touchdowns and 34 interceptions in 35 career games. He accumulated a school-record 8,427 total yards and joined Ell Roberson as the only quarterbacks in Kansas State history to score at least 60 touchdowns.

College statistics

		Passing								Rushing
Season	Team	GP	Rating	Att	Comp	%	Yds	TD	Int	Att	Yds	TD
2006	Kansas State Wildcats	11	103.45	270	140	51.9	1,780	6	15	54	-21	2
2007	Kansas State Wildcats	12	127.26	499	316	63.3	3,353	18	11	53	-40	4
2008	Kansas State Wildcats	12	136.49	382	224	58.6	2,945	20	8	107	404	14
Career		35	124.73	1,151	680	59.1	8,078	44	34	214	343	20

College awards and honors

• Earned honorable mention freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News (2006).
• Earned three national player-of-the-week honors after a win over Texas in 2006, including Cingular All-America Player of the Week, the Walter Camp Foundation Offensive Player of the Week and the Master Coaches Survey Player of the Week.
• Big 12 Conference Co-Offensive Player of the week (September 2, 2008)
• USA Today College Football Player of the Week (Named on October 15, 2008)
• 2008 honorable mention All-America selection by Pro Football Weekly.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Freeman was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round (17th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He entered the 2009 NFL Draft with one year of college eligibility left. The Bucs have reportedly agreed to terms with Freeman on a five-year, $26 million contract. The deal could balloon to as much as $36 million.

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	40-yard dash	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Wonderlic
6 ft 5+3⁄4 in (1.97 m)	248 lb (112 kg)	4.90 s	4.43 s	7.11 s	33+1⁄2 in (0.85 m)	9 ft 11 in (3.02 m)	27
All values from 2009 NFL Combine

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On November 8, 2009, Freeman started his first professional game at home against the Green Bay Packers, coincidentally the first game the Bucs wore their old "creamsicle" jerseys since December 1996. The Buccaneers won, ending an 11-game losing streak. He completed 14 out of 31 passes for 205 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and 1 INT, including a fourth down touchdown pass to rookie Sammie Stroughter to take the lead, 31-28 late in the game. Freeman became the youngest quarterback in Bucs history to start and win his first game. On December 27, 2009 he led his Buccaneers to a 20-17 overtime win over the 13-1 New Orleans Saints preventing them from clinching the 1st seed in the playoffs for 1 more week.

SEASON	TEAM	GAMES	CMP	ATT	CMP%	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	RAT	LNG
2009	TB	10	158	290	54.5	1,855	6.4	10	18	59.8	42
2010	TB	9	164	270	60.7	1,963	7.3	12	5	90.1	58
TOTAL		19	322	560	57.5	3,818	6.8	22	23	74.4	58

Personal

His father, Ron, was a hall of fame linebacker for Pittsburg State University and also played in the United States Football League with the Pittsburgh Maulers (1984) and Orlando Renegades (1985). Freeman's brother, Caleb, was recruited to Missouri to play linebacker in 2008. He was red-shirted.. Josh currently dates ESPN.com writer Bill Simmons.

External links

• Official Josh Freeman Football Camp
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bio
• Kansas State Bio