Jack Freeman isn’t about hype. Jack Freeman isn’t about fame. Jack Freeman isn’t a man to take lightly. And Jack Freeman isn’t about to let any challenge get in his way.
As the long-time Houston center enters his final season with the Cougars, Freeman is about one thing: Leaving a lasting impact on the world and imparting his message of resiliency, pride, and perseverance.
Jack Freeman Embodies the Term: Role Model
Watch the television special about him; or grab the viral post of him helping a bullied grade schooler. Take the fact that he was named to the Wuerffel Trophy preseason watch list; or any number of stories that you hear about him helping others.
What do all these tales of Freeman have in common?
Sure, they’re all uplifting, feel-good stories about a man using his platform for good.
But, they are simply just who Jack Freeman is. And trust me, he’s not looking to take credit for any of those moments. He cares about making the world he knows better and helping out those who were once in his shoes.
“I didn’t want it to blow up the way it did, at all, I mean, that wasn’t my objective,” Freeman explained of his bringing Brody Bledsoe to the Houston campus this summer. “I just wanted to make a kid’s day and make him feel special.”
Blow up, it did, as Freeman was featured on Houston’s ABC affiliate in both video and print form. And it didn’t stop there. A viral social media post followed, and in the subsequent weeks, he was nominated to the Allstate AFCA Goodworks Team.
Freeman welcomed Brody, who has autism, and admitted to ABC13 that he “got bullied” and, according to his mother, would “cry himself to sleep before school days,” to the Houston facility this summer. Brody met the UH team, was adorned with Cougar gear, received a VIP tour of the athletics facility, and had a private autograph signing with the players.
Brody and his mom were also treated to lunch with the players.
“I just tried to make him feel as welcome as possible,” Freeman said nonchalantly about changing a kid’s life, one gracious moment this summer.
And to think, it all started out because the towering mountain of a man himself — or Big Jack as Brody calls him — said he had been where Brody had been before.
“There’s no telling what’s going on in his mind, and what he deals with,” Freeman said. “I’ve been in these situations, we all have. Kids are very cruel, they’re ruthless, they’ll tell you how it is.”
“I’ve been in his shoes before, I’ve been called fat. I just wanted to make him feel special, make him feel wanted.”
MORE: Meet UNC’s Multi-Dimensional Dynamo Kaimon Rucker
Freeman Finds Foundation From Family
In speaking with Freeman, it’s clear that the instance with Brody isn’t just a one-off. Instead, it’s just a continuation of a pattern of behavior in which Freeman fights for the proverbial little guy. ‘Big Jack’ assists others in reaching their goals.
He recalls the time when he first moved to Houston and saw a homeless person for the first time in his life. And in that moment, his first instinct was to help out, not shy away like so many of us do.
“I definitely learned that from my family, for sure,” Freeman says of his wanting to help others. “But I was able to also learn it by myself too. I remember when I first moved to Houston, and I went to a gas station, he was there, and I gave him $20 and he told me he wanted to get a job at Popeye’s but they wouldn’t let him.”
“So fast forward three months later, I get this random text message, and it’s a picture of him in a Popeye’s uniform with his new boss, and he said, ‘man, you have no idea what your $20 did for me, I’m so appreciative of you and I couldn’t have done it without you.'”
This discussion, told so easily, indicates just how easy it is for Freeman to care for others. And how naturally it comes to a player on the field that’s known for his prowess in knocking defenders backward.
Football, like life, will throw you troubles, as Freeman says. A mantra Freeman continually hit on during our discussion.
“Football is a very hard sport to play, there’s a lot of adversity to it, just like life in general,” Freeman says. “You’re always going to have things thrown at you, but in my opinion, a lot of those things are just tests for you.”
And the Freeman family themselves got handed a big test recently.
Freeman’s Intrinsic Motivation Comes From His Mother
The Freeman family, of whom he is the fourth Jack in their lineage, has dealt with their own off-field obstacles over the past few years. They were dealt a tremendously rough hand just before the pandemic hit: Jack’s mother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer.
And yet, like Jack, she proved strongest when others needed her.
“I will never miss a game, even on my worst chemo days,” Cindy told me. “I will battle the cancer off the field and win my one-on-one and he will battle his opponent on the field and win his one-on-one!”
Little did she know during her battle, her son would continue to use her as his motivation on and off the field.
“If I can see her (fighting through chemo) and going through that, I can easily go to practice, even if it’s hot outside, even though it’s hard,” Freeman said. “I can play these games to the best of my ability, to my full potential. It drives me to be better today than I was yesterday.”
It’s not just on-field success that his mother’s fight motivates him to do. Freeman attributes her fighting spirit as his guiding light for not taking anything for granted and being thankful for each day.
“This just goes for a lot of people in general, we take for granted just sitting in seats (at football games),” Freeman spoke in-depth about his intentions to push others to be thankful for what they have. “I try to make it clear to the guys (at Houston) and to myself that we’re very fortunate to be in the spot that we are.”
“There are people out here that would do anything to be where we are, and I try to remind myself that every day.”
Big Things Coming for Freeman, Houston in the Big 12
As the Cougars enter the Big 12 for the 2023 season and beyond, Houston as a program is bound for big things. And Freeman is no different.
With spots on the Rimington Trophy Watch List, East-West Shrine Bowl 1000, and a CFN All-Big 12 mention, Freeman has started to creep into the national spotlight as the man in the middle for Houston.
But when given time to expound on his own successes, Freeman instead opts to hype his team and the city of Houston.
“It’s really good to know we have the city behind us,” Freeman says of the biggest difference from the AAC days to the new Big 12 days. “The hype is real and people are excited for us.”
For a guy who doesn’t like the fame, and doesn’t want the publicity, Freeman is the epitome of someone to be excited for. He’s also a player that will make a difference in this world, one helping hand at a time.
“If kids are able to see this, if you don’t think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, stick to it, keep your head down, and you’ll see that all those things are just tests and all they’ll do is make you better,” Freeman says of his own trials and tribulations through his years.
Freeman continues to use football euphemisms to clearly indicate his outlook on life.
“Take it one snap at a time, play-by-play, don’t look back, keep looking forward because you can never go back, always look in the present because that’s what’s going to dictate what happens in the future.”
If that’s not a role model on AND off the field, I don’t know what is.
