Brad Freeman may have grown up in Oxford, but he has been a Mississippi State Bulldog his entire life. His father, Steve Freeman, was a standout defensive back for MSU before playing 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Buffalo Bills, then went on to work as an NFL official.
Brad was recruited to play quarterback for the Bulldogs under Jackie Sherrill, but instead chose to focus on baseball, batting .305 over his four seasons in Starkville and helping MSU reach the Men’s College World Series in 1997 and 1998.
After two seasons playing Minor League baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Freeman returned to football and had a tryout with the Indianapolis Colts, spending a year with their practice squad, but never made it onto the official roster. He then followed in his father’s footsteps and went into officiating, working his way up to the NFL by 2014.
Freeman was selected to work this year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers as the back judge, his 12th postseason game and first Super Bowl. The Dispatch caught up with Freeman to discuss his journey and his experience at the big game.
This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.
The Dispatch: What led to your decision to go into officiating?
Brad Freeman: My dad, once he got out of his playing days, he started officiating, and I was still in high school and college. He started in high school officiating and then he worked his way up and he got into the Southeastern Conference. He spent eight or nine seasons working SEC football, and then from there he had a 20-year career in the NFL as an official. It was definitely my dad who got me interested in officiating. He was very instrumental in my career, seeing what he was able to do. I had the same path, pretty much, as he did. I spent several seasons working arena football games at the DeSoto Civic Center and all across the Southeast. And then I spent several seasons in high school, I spent nine seasons in the SEC, and then I broke into the NFL in 2014.
The Dispatch: With your dad’s background, would you say you had a little bit more respect and understanding for officials and what they do when you were an athlete?
Freeman: Oh, yeah. When he initially started officiating, I was like, ‘Man, that looks terrible. Why would anyone want to do that?’ It’s probably getting worse today, but the abuse officials take, especially at the younger age groups, that’s something that I hope changes because we’re losing a lot of young officials. It helped me seeing his path and what he went through and it helped me navigate what step to take next or who to get in front of with the decision makers.
The Dispatch: How do non-game days and travel days work for you as an NFL official?
Freeman: We work one game a week, unlike Major League Baseball umpires or NBA officials. It does allow us to have other jobs. I’ve worked for the city of Oxford, run an mTrade park for 17 years now. I spend a lot of time working on my craft of officiating during the week, on my lunch break or at night, preparing for the next game. The rhythm of the NFL season allows us as NFL officials, if you choose to, you can have another job. We all devote a large amount of our time to getting better, watching film, studying the rules. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.
The Dispatch: What did it mean to you when you were selected to be part of the Super Bowl crew?
Freeman: That’s pretty much the furthest thing from your mind when you’re working a JV game at 22. To be able to get that call and once that sinks in, it’s a moment you never forget. It’s a very special feeling. You’re honored to get the call. We have such tremendously talented individuals who work in the NFL. Very special moment in my life.
The Dispatch: Do you get nervous or anxious when you’re working a tight game and know that one call could end up having a huge impact on the outcome?
Freeman: Before any game, you’re amped up. It’s like good nervous, good butterflies. Once they kick off, you’re working. You’re just so focused and locked in in the moment. The longer you do it, the more comfortable you get. You’re just out there doing your job. It’s good once you get in that zone and they snap the ball, you’re locked in on your responsibilities.
The Dispatch: How did you feel about how things went with this Super Bowl?
Freeman: It was obviously a great game, a very entertaining game. The goal of any officiating crew, when we’ve worked a good game, nobody says anything about us. Unlike a player, we do not want to be noticed in any way, shape or form. It seemed like we accomplished that at the Super Bowl. We stayed out of the way and by and large weren’t noticed, which is fine by us.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
