Freeney, Harrison Earn All-Pro Honors
1/10/2006 1:39:30 PM | Football
Former Orange All-Americans Dwight Freeney and Marvin Harrison earned National Football League Associated Press All-Pro honors for their 2005 seasons. Freeney is a first-team All-Pro selection for the second time in his four-year NFL career. Harrison made the 2005 second team and has been an AP first-team selection twice since he entered the league in 1996.
The Colts, including Freeney, Harrison, and former SU standouts James Mungro and Josh Thomas, will play Pittsburgh in the AFC Divisional Playoff on Sunday, January 15 at 1:00 p.m. In the other AFC Divisional Playoff, Denver and former Orange standout fullback Kyle Johnson will meet New England on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.
Freeney and Thomas are both defensive ends for one of the top ranked defenses in the NFL. The Colts are allowing a mere 15.4 points per game, which is second-best in the league.
Freeney leads the defensive charge as he totaled 34 tackles, including 29 solo, 11 sacks, and six forced fumbles in the regular season. Thomas finished with 18 tackles, including eight solo, and three sacks.
Freeney rewrote the record books while playing on The Hill. He holds a share of the record for tackles for a loss in a game with five. His 50.5 career tackles for a loss is 10.5 more than the next student-athlete, and he also holds the top two tackles for a loss performances in a single season. Freeney led the nation in 2001 with 17.5 sacks, which is also a BIG EAST Conference record. He had 4.5 sacks in a game against Virginia Tech in 2000, which is a record, and he is second all-time in career sacks with 34. Freeney also forced eight fumbles in 2001, an NCAA record.
Harrison caught 82 passes for 1,146 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. Harrison and quarterback Peyton Manning also rewrote the record books this year. The duo became the most prolific combination in NFL history as they passed Steve Young and Jerry Rice for the most touchdown hook ups in history in a game against St. Louis on Oct. 17. The 49ers’ tandem held the previous record with 85 touchdowns.
Harrison and Manning also became the first duo in NFL history to connect for over 10,000 yards, while Harrison became the fastest wide receiver ever to amass 900 career receptions. He did it in 149 games, while Rice caught 900 in 168 games.
Harrison also broke records at Syracuse. From 1992-95, he compiled a school-record 2,728 receiving yards. His 1,131 yards in 1995 still stands as the single season record at SU. In that same season, Harrison averaged 102.8 yards per game, another record.
Harrison holds four of the top 10 receiving performances in a single game at SU, while his 135 career receptions are third all-time. His 20 touchdowns rank second all-time in Orange. Harrison is also a part of the tandem that holds the school record for the longest pass play at Syracuse. He and Donovan McNabb hooked up for a 96-yard completion in a 1995 game against West Virginia.
Thomas is in his second season with the Colts. He finished his Orange career with 124 tackles, 22.5 tackles for a loss, nine sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
Mungro has recorded seven rushes for 15 yards with three catches for 28 yards in the regular season. In his Orange career, he ran for 2,869 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also caught 36 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns. His rushing total ranks fourth all-time on the SU rushing list. He also shares the Orange record with four-consecutive 100-yard games. Mungro’s 29 trips to the endzone is third all-time.
Johnson finished the year with 17 catches for 160 yards, four rushes for nine yards, and five touchdowns, while Alexander missed the entire season due to an injury. Johnson registered 469 rushing yards in his Orange career to go along with eight touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Alexander played in 44 games on the offensive line while at SU.
