Phantom serves double duty with team, Air Force

During the singing of the national anthem at the Florence Civic Center on Friday night, Nick Freet stands stoic with his hand over his heart, his eyes locked on the American flag.
The scene is a snapshot of Freet’s commitment to his country and to the Florence Phantoms.
By day, Airman First Class Freet is a network infrastructure technician at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter. His job there is to maintain network systems that run an entire unit.
By night, Freet is the starting middle linebacker for the Phantoms. His job here is to bust up plays and tear down opposing offensive units.
Accomplishing both calls for 16-hour days, including a round-trip commute of an hour and a half.
“It takes a love of the game. (My schedule) is
physically and mentally exhausting,” Freet said. “I get up at 6:30 in the morning, work all day and then get ready for practice.
“I normally don’t get home until about 10:30 at night every night.”
That kind of work ethic is something those who run professional football teams drool over.
“Nick Freet has been a pleasant surprise for us,” Phantoms general manager Bennie King said. “We didn’t know (how much he would be able to play) coming out of the open tryouts because of his military commitment.
“His commitment to this team and his country has been 100 percent.”
Said Phantoms coach Tavares Bowens, “Nick is a great person and a fun guy to coach. I make fun of him being late, but I respect his commitment. It’s an honor for someone to serve and defend his country.”

Lean, mean tackling machine
Freet’s commitment to his country and dream of playing professional football has been a godsend for the Phantoms.
Before Friday’s game against the Huntington Heroes, Freet ranked sixth in the American Indoor Football League with 24 tackles, 10th in sacks and 10th in tackles for loss.
In the Phantoms’ 66-12 beating of the Heroes, Freet had two sacks, one for a safety. He also forced a fumble on a first-and-goal situation that stopped a Huntington drive and led to a Phantoms score.
Freet takes a cerebral approach to the linebacker position. Standing across the line of scrimmage, he looks for tendencies. A running back leaning a certain way or an offensive lineman leaning forward or backward can be indicators of pass or run.
And once Freet makes that determination, he has an avenue to attack.
“I love the speed of the game, and I love my teammates,” Freet said. “This is so much fun.”

Long road to Florence
After four years of football at Morningside College in Iowa, Freet spent 2005 playing for the Iowa Blackhawks of the American Professional Football League.
A year later, he was in Nebraska playing linebacker for the Omaha Beef of the United Indoor Football League.
Around that time, Freet started looking for a way to finish his college degree for life after football. With the Air Force, he has found that opportunity.
“The military has great benefits,” Freet said. “I wanted to go into a career that I could excel in for the rest of my life.”
Football, though, was never completely out of Freet’s mind. And the chance to get back into the game was just a click away.
One night last October, Freet was surfing the internet at Shaw and ran across a posting the Phantoms were holding open tryouts at The Byrnes Schools.
“I sent some of my stats to the team,” he said. “This happened about two weeks before the actual tryout, so I wasn’t really ready.
“(The tryout) was pretty demanding. I had just gotten out of boot camp not too long before that, so I was pretty worn out.”

Cheering section
Word that Freet had made the Phantoms’ roster spread quickly around Shaw. Soon after, a group of Freet’s fellow airmen became regulars at home games.
At Friday’s game, six of those airmen cheered loudly from section 206.
“I work with (Freet) at the shop,” Airman First Class Matt Ward said. “We come out to support him at every home game, and it’s great to watch him.”
Airmen Phil Collar and Jared Flores watched in amazement as Freet made play after play against Huntington.
“It’s awesome to put that much time in (playing indoor football),” Collar said. “His job takes up a lot of hours, and that takes a lot of commitment.”
Said Flores, “I can’t believe he can do his job back on the base and play football so well.”
Airman First Class Tyler Barr said that, if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t mind following in Freet’s footsteps.
“I think it would be cool to do what he does,” he said. “You get to serve your country and get a release by knocking some heads around.”

The future
With a war going on in the Middle East, Freet has no illusions of what lies ahead. He is almost certain he will be deployed at some point.
“I know I will eventually be over there,” Freet said. “But I’m not worried because I’ve gotten the training and everything else I need to handle a deployment.”
Where Freet goes or when goes is out of his hands. All he can do is wait and —thanks to the Phantoms — hit.
“I love the game,” Freet said. “Until my body lets go, I can’t imagine not playing.”