Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney is part of a small group of big-time NFL defensive players staying in shape this offseason in creative fashion.

Freeney, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, is working out with players such as Baltimore Ravens DE Terrell Suggs, Tennessee Titans LB Keith Bulluck and San Diego Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie in Santa Monica, Cal. The group is using tractor tires to work out on “Strongman Hill,” a dirt slope described as being “tucked into the Santa Monica mountains” in a recent story in the Baltimore Sun.

The story is mostly on Suggs’ contract negotiations with the Ravens, but because of Freeney’s involvement, we decided to link it and pass it along.

It also outlines the routine Freeney and the others are undergoing – a weekly routine of specialized weightlifting and martial arts training.

Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney has developed into one of the most intriguing players on the team to cover in recent seasons. Recently, he added another reason why.

Freeney, the Colts’ all-time sacks leader and a player well-versed in the history of the NFL — not as common a trait among big-time players as you might think — recently contributed to ESPN The Magazine’s “You’ve Got My Vote” feature. The feature had current stars in three professional sports make cases for the Hall of Fame for former players not enshrined.

Freeney wrote about former Chicago Bears DE Richard Dent, who also spent one season with the Colts.

According to Chicago Bears.com, Freeney wrote:

I grew up a Giants fan, but Richard Dent made me respect the Bears. He was a dominant force on one of the most dominant defenses in the history of the NFL. When you think of the 1985 Bears defense, you think of two men: Mike Singletary and Richard Dent. And his stats speak for themselves. He had 137.5 sacks as a defensive end. The benchmark is 100. That’s like hitting 500 home runs in baseball. And everyone knows it’s not easy to play for a long time in this physical league, but he played for 15 seasons at a very high level.

Freeney went on: It wasn’t just what Dent did, but how he did it. The way he could dissect an offensive tackle was amazing. He knew what was going to happen on every play before the snap. And he executed like no one else. He originated the slap rip, where he used his outside hand to slap at the offensive tackle before ripping past him with his inside arm. I admired the way he got after the ball, the passionate way he played and how he was a student of the game. You can’t keep him out of Canton.

I’ve written before on Indy Football Report that Freeney has developed in recent seasons into a Colts player I respect as much as any other. I wondered sometimes early in his career if he would be a big-time rusher throughout his career. At defensive end, players often have big numbers early in their careers only to fade after a few years or after their first “big contract.” Often, opposing offensive tackles figure out a guy’s best moves and much like hitters of pitchers in baseball, sometimes pass rushers fade once the league has a “book” on said player. The league has had plenty of time to have a book on Freeney and he has managed to adapt his game each season. Whereas once he was a speed rusher who relied on athletic ability he now is a veteran at the height of his game — a player with physical ability whose effort int he film room has allowed his game to adjust. Freeney also cares about the game and his place in its history. He can talk intelligently about pass rushers who came before him and — as evidenced by the ESPN the Magazine article — cares enough to spend some time pushing for a player he feels is overlooked. It might sound like nothing, but a lot of players wouldn’t do it. That’s become sort of the norm for Freeney lately. From appearing on ESPN’s special on the Greatest Game Ever Played last fall to appearing on Dr. Phil earlier this offseason to writing this piece on Dent, I get a picture of a guy who knows an NFL career is a short one and who’s enjoying his time in professional football. Good for him.

Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney has a dream, and he figures his new head coach may be the one to help him fulfill it.

Freeney, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, recalled a story about new Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell recruiting him when Caldwell was the head coach at Wake Forest and Freeney was a standout for Bloomfield (Conn.) High School:

He came in to the house and came downstairs and sat down there with my mom and my pops and promised me that if I went to Wake Forest I could play offense and defense  I always give him a hard time.  Obviously I went to Syracuse and didn’t go to Wake Forest, but since he’s been here, even as quarterbacks coach and what have you, now he’s the head coach so now he has a little bit more say-so.  I’m trying to get at least one offensive play.  And I’m going to talk to Peyton.  One red zone play, that’s all I need.  Just one.  One fade route.  I want to catch the ball.

 Freeney joked that he was interested only in playing tight end or slot receiver, but not fullback.

Colts President Bill Polian, smiling but hardly joking, said Freeney needn’t worry about playing fullback and said he had a two-word reason:

Lisfranc.

Freeney sustained a lisfranc foot injury in 2007 that kept him out the second half of the season.

The draft series covering the Indianapolis Colts’  Top 25 selections of the Bill Polian era continues today with the No. 4 selection . . .

No. 4 . . .

Dwight Freeney, DE, Syracuse / First Round, 2002 / No. 11 overall

We covered the selection of Freeney pretty heavily a couple of weeksback in the look back at the 2002 NFL Draft when analyzing the first-round selections of the Bill Polian era. Can’t say it much better today, so . . .

The fascinating thing about this series has been remembering the circumstances around each selection. Seven years later, this selection seems like a no-brainer.

In 2002, it was anything but.

Mainly because no one had Dwight Freeney going No. 11.

This is the draft Colts President Bill Polian often discusses when asked about value at a pick. When he was first selected, analysts questioned whether Freeney merited the No. 11 selection, mainly because they questioned his size. Polian pointed out then and has pointed out since that in the draft, if you like a player at a slot, you usually want to take him because if you like the player, he’s worth that slot to you. If you trade down and don’t get the player you wanted, the theory goes, what’s the sense in getting “value?” It sounds simple, but after watching Polian select for nearly a decade, you get an idea that that’s the secret to his draft-day success: he keeps it simple, doesn’t out-think himself, takes good players and doesn’t worry about draft buzz and analysis.

As far as the specifics of the Freeney selection, it’s notable for many reasons. It was the first selection of the Dungy era, and marked the beginning of the team’s transition to the one-gap, Cover 2 style of defense. . . . No. 11 was said to be much, much too high. Freeney was too small, the critics said, and I remember being skeptical about a 6-feet-1 pass rusher at No. 11.

I stopped being skeptical during a rookie season in which Freeney showed he was a special pass rusher, and over the years, I have come to really admire Freeney. He gets consistent pressure despite constantly being double-teamed and chipped, and this past season, he made a fourth Pro Bowl a year after a serious foot injury.

A final thought on this selection:

You can spend a lot of time analyzing and breaking down why the Colts have been one of the NFL’s elite teams in the last decade. One reason is their ability hit on first-round selections, but inside of that ability in the late 1990s and early 2000s was an invaluable ability to hit on early first-round selections. The Colts three times under Polian have selected in the first 11 picks. In 1998, they selected quarterback Peyton Manning and the next season, they selected running back Edgerrin James.

Three drafts later, after the lost season of ‘01, they used the No. 11 selection to solidify the defense with a player who has been one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers for seven seasons.

That’s efficient drafting, the type that makes a franchise a long-term power.