Jocks who Rock: “Free Reign is Literally Over a Ton of Metal!”

Check out the song: “One Step Away”

What do you get when you put a Miami Dolphins offensive tackle, a Miami Dolphins guard, a former Pro Bowl guard for the Dallas Cowboys, and a non-football, proverbial guitar hero together? Well… weighing in at over half a ton, and standing at an average height of 6’3, you get a band called Free Reign, which literally puts the “Heavy” in Metal.

Free Reign was conceived in 2006 in the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room by Marc Colombo (Miami Dolphins offensive tackle and vocals/guitar) and Cory Proctor (Miami Dolphins guard and drums) when Colombo joined the team. The two would hold jam sessions which in turn attracted the attention of Leonard Davis (guard and bass) who then brought in childhood friend Justin Chapman (lead guitar) to complete the band’s line-up.

The group was originally signed to Riot! Entertainment in 2009 (the label was also home to former WWE wrestler Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy, and produced their first 5 song EP titled Tragedy) and was quickly invited to Revolver Magazine’s 2010 Golden Gods award show. Amazingly, Free Reign ended up taking home the award for Most Metal Athletes, an outstanding feat considering how long the band was actually together.

Despite struggling to juggle their football careers and musical ambitions (from July until January the band is on hiatus due to the regular NFL season), Free Reign has managed to play a few live shows in the Texas area and on April 19th, released their debut full-length CD, Heavier than Metal under their own label, DC Rightside Music.

Even with an annual and lengthy break from music and balancing their busy football-filled lives, Free Reign has managed to gain a strong fan following including metal juggernauts such as Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society and former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist), and Vinnie Paul (Pantera/Hell Yeah). Without a doubt there’s a lot more to come from both Free Reign and the member’s football careers. The band hopes to start touring more in the offseason, so in the meantime catch a game, live for a hard tackle, and look the hell out cause half a ton of metal might be showing up in your town soon! Rock on metal heads!

Check out the video for: “One Step Away”