Rockne Crowningburg Freitas (September 7, 1945 – June 8, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in an eleven-year career that lasted from 1968 to 1978 in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Freitas played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

and was drafted in the third round of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

after the 1972 season. His son

Makoa The Makoa (or Masombika) are an ethnic group in Madagascar descended from enslaved people from mainland Africa that were traded through the major slave trading ports of northern Mozambique in an area mainly populated by the Makua people. They a ...

was selected in the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. Following his NFL career, Freitas served in various leadership roles in education, including at Ke Aliʻi Pauahi Foundation, Kamehameha Schools, and GRG Enterprises. He also served as the chancellor of

Hawaiʻi Community College Hawaiʻi Community College is a public community college with two campuses on the Island of Hawaii. It is part of the University of Hawaiʻi system and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Hawaii Com ...

for six years, as vice president for university relations for the

University of Hawaiʻi System A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, and as associate athletic director for the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

. As a vice president of the University of Hawaii System, Freitas was instrumental in negotiating a move of the UH football team from the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

to the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

in 2010 during the

2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment The 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment was a set of extensive changes in conference membership at all three levels of NCAA competition— Division I, Division II, and Division III—beginning in the 2010–11 academic year. Most of these ...

. Freitas served as the chancellor for the

University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

from 2013 until his retirement in 2015.

References

External links

Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Rockne 1945 births 2022 deaths American football offensive linemen Detroit Lions players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine athletic directors Oregon State Beavers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Honolulu Native Hawaiian sportspeople Pacific Islander American players of American football