The offseason has reached one of its quietest points for the Green Bay Packers, and for the most part, sports fans are focused on other leagues.

Both MLB and the WNBA are in full swing, but this summer, there’s one additional focus as well: the World Cup.

Played once every four years, the World Cup is the biggest stage in soccer, and this time around, the tournament has a unique Green Bay tie.

Alex Freeman, the son of former Packers great Antonio Freeman, is contributing for the United States.

Today, we’ll take a look at each of their careers.

Like Father

Antonio Freeman was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft, and he left his mark in Titletown almost immediately.

After a somewhat pedestrian rookie campaign in which he caught just eight passes for one-hundred and six yards and one touchdown, Freeman made his presence known.

He led the Packers in receiving in four straight seasons from 1996-1999, including a career best 1998 in which Freeman led the NFL with 1,424 yards, which was good enough for his only Pro Bowl appearance.

Freeman was also a member of the Green Bay Packers’ iconic 1997 Super Bowl team.

In the big game, Freeman caught what was then a Super Bowl record eighty-one yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre, finishing the contest with three catches for 105 yards.

Although his career slowed down afterward, he will always be remembered in Green Bay, where he eventually retired.

He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2009.

Like Son

Over thirty years after his after his father starred on the gridiron at Lambeau Field, Antonio Freeman’s son, Alex, is making a name for himself with his own brand of football.

Alex Freeman is a defender for the United States Men’s National soccer team, and if you’ve been watching any of this year’s World Cup, you’d see that he is a big part of the team’s early success.

Freeman has scored a point in each of the USMNT’s first two games, recording an assist against Paraguay and an impressive goal against Australia.


If the family lineage has anything to say, this is likely just the beginning.

Freeman received his first call up to the National Team in May 2025, where he became the youngest player to record six consecutive starts in the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the United States.

For such a young player at only twenty-one years of age, his impact at the international level has already been significant.

After starting his club career at Orlando City, he broke out in 2025, playing well enough in the MLS—the United States’ highest level of professional club soccer—to earn a transfer to Villarreal of La Liga for nearly seven million dollars.

La Liga, the highest level of the Spanish football system, is one of the most vaulted professional soccer leagues in the world, and success there could make Freeman one of the US’ most promising soccer talents in quite some time.

In an interview for the LA Times, Freeman mentioned that he “…always got asked if football was the path.”

According to him, he’s always had a “secret love for soccer.”

It seems like it’s working out.