LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Richard Dent has received a Hall of Fame endorsement from an unlikely source.

In the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney expresses his belief that the Bears’ all-time sack leader deserves to be enshrined in Canton.

Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent is the Bears' all-time leader with 124.5 career sacks.

“I grew up a Giants fan, but Richard Dent made me respect the Bears,” Freeney wrote. “He was a dominant force on one of the most dominant defenses in the history of the NFL. When you think of the 1985 Bears defense, you think of two men: Mike Singletary and Richard Dent.

“And his stats speak for themselves. He had 137.5 sacks as a defensive end. The benchmark is 100. That’s like hitting 500 home runs in baseball. And everyone knows it’s not easy to play for a long time in this physical league, but he played for 15 seasons at a very high level.”

Dent has failed to gain entry into the Hall of Fame despite being a finalist five times in the last six years. He ranks sixth all-time in sacks after recording at least 10 sacks in eight of 10 seasons with the Bears from 1984-93. An eighth-round pick from Tennessee State, he was named Super Bowl XX MVP and was elected to four Pro Bowls.

Freeney wrote about Dent as part of a feature entitled “You’ve Got My Vote.” ESPN the Magazine had current stars in three different professional sports make Hall of Fame cases for former greats “in the hopes that a big name endorsement might sway a critical mass of voters … because sometimes it takes greatness to recognize it.”

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer explains why he thinks that former pitcher Bert Blyleven should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek makes a similar argument for ex-NHL star Bob Nystrom being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“… It wasn’t just what Dent did, but how he did it,” Freeney wrote. “The way he could dissect an offensive tackle was amazing. He knew what was going to happen on every play before the snap. And he executed like no one else. 

"He originated the slap rip, where he used his outside hand to slap at the offensive tackle before ripping past him with his inside arm. I admired the way he got after the ball, the passionate way he played and how he was a student of the game. You can’t keep him out of Canton.”