Countdown to Kickoff: No. 42
KeShun Freeman
The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.
Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.
With it now 42 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 42 KeShun Freeman, who burst on the scene with a huge freshman season on The Flats in 2014 before going on to a productive career over the next four years that included 50 games played with 45 of those being starts.
Freeman came to Georgia Tech in the recruiting class of 2014 after a stellar prep career at Callaway High (Ga.) in LaGrange. He chose the Jackets over close to 20 other offers from schools all over the country, including several from the ACC, SEC and Big 10.
The 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive end wasted no time making a name for himself on the college level as he couldn’t be kept off the field as a freshman, playing in all 14 games in 2014 and starting 12 of them. He led all Georgia Tech defensive linemen in tackles that season with 54 total (37 solo) and also recorded 9.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one blocked kick on his way to being named a Freshman All-American by ESPN, Phil Steele, USA Today and 247Sports as well as being an All-ACC Honorable Mention pick.
Freeman followed that up with a sophomore season in 2015 when he started all 12 games and had 44 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery and then started all 13 games in 2016 when he had 39 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, a half a sack and one pass defended, recording a career-high nine tackles in the Jackets’ win over rival Georgia in Athens.
Freeman concluded his college career serving as the team co-captain as a senior in 2017, playing in 11 games and starting nine while recording 22 total tackles (12 solo) and three tackles-for-loss.
Following his time on The Flats, Freeman received a mini-camp invite with the Baltimore Ravens and battled in preseason camp with the New Orleans Saints. He has also played briefly in the XFL and American Alliance of Football before he went in a different direction with his wide-ranging talents and has pursued a career as an actor and a singer in the last several years.
Freeman joined the “Players’ Choir” in 2022, which is a 16-member vocal group made up of current and former professional football players and went on to perform with them on America’s Got Talent on NBC. He has also appeared in multiple movies and shows in the past few years as he has pursued acting.
