How is Dwight Freeney's spin move so good? He's always spinning
Freeney beat Vikings tackle Matt Kalil with his patented spin move to win a game for the Cardinals last week. On Tuesday, he let reporters know how he's perfected the move over the years.
By
Jared Dubin
•
1 min read
If you've watched professional football on any given Sunday over the last 14 years, you have probably seen Dwight Freeney's spin move. Freeney was one of the NFL's best pass rushers for a solid decade, and that quick-moving spin helped him rack up a whole lot of his 115.5 (and counting) career sacks.
His latest sack, which sealed a win for the Cardinals last Thursday night, was a great example.
Teddy Bridgewater goes for the win. Dwight Freeney goes for the strip-sack fumble. And the Cardinals win. #MINvsAZ https://t.co/vQz2uxsmrt
— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2015
Poor Matt Kalil never stood a chance. Asked about that move by the media on Tuesday, Freeney let them know how he's been able to perfect it over the years.
LB @dwightfreeney on his spin move: "I'm spinning when I get off the bus. I'm spinning when I get out of the locker room. That's just me."
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) December 15, 2015
It's been written that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. At this point, there should be no doubt that Dwight Freeney has done 10,000 hours of spinning. How else would he be so good at it.
Just look at this spin by Freeney against Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth earlier this season:
And compare it to this one against the Jaguars from a few years ago:
Or this one against the Texans:
They all look exactly the same. Freeney jets upfield and attacks the outside shoulder of the tackle. Then he makes contract with his outside arm, using it as leverage to spin back inside and toward the quarterback. It's perfect.
Given that his go-to move still looks like that, I guess we shouldn't be shocked that Freeney's contributred four sacks in his limited snaps for Arizona this season.
