![]() ![]() In 2004, George played his final game as a member of the Dallas Cowboys and retired from the NFL. “I showed up every day, and never missed a game.”įrom Fork Union to Columbus to Houston and finally in Nashville, Eddie George achieved and even surpassed the goals he’d set for himself on the gridiron. That’s one thing I’m really proud of,” says George. “I never missed a single start in a Titan uniform in my entire career. “I wanted to leave my mark in some capacity,” said the four-time Pro Bowler. To finally see it all come together at the right time was a wonderful moment for all of us that were involved.” Alongside the late Steve McNair, Eddie spent eight years in the backfield for the Oilers/Titans franchise and became the face of the organization as Nashville became a legitimate NFL city. All we had was our faith and our hope that things would work out for the best. Going through the first three years, it tested our faith and resolve. We had the loudest stadium in the NFL, and we did not lose a single home game that whole year.” The Titans run to Super Bowl XXXIV that year electrified the city, and finally gave the players a real hometown to play for and a local community to truly connect with. “Once we got a taste of that…the stadium filled to capacity in our first preseason game…there was no turning back. “Once we changed the name, I think it made a huge difference,” George explained. In 1999, the team moved across the Cumberland River into their new home stadium and changed their name from the ‘Oilers’ to the ‘Titans’. Here it is, you’re playing your best football, but nobody cares and you don’t have the support of the fans.” But the reliance upon one another was something that Eddie says laid the groundwork for what was to come. “Over time it became cumbersome, it was depressing. However, over the course of those two transition seasons, the team played home games in with crowds that averaged less than 20,000. In Houston, the Oilers regularly sold out their home football games, filling the Astrodome to capacity with over 70,000 fans. We were nomads with no names, just really trying to find an identity and it was tough to be taken serious.” “It was like we were on the outside looking in…we were in the NFL but we really weren’t. The team played their home games in Memphis’ Liberty Bowl in 1997 and in Vanderbilt’s Stadium in 1998 as the Tennessee Oilers. The Oilers franchise would move to Tennessee two years earlier than originally scheduled due to the strained relationship with the city of Houston. ![]() “That was eye-opening for me…I’m a rookie from Ohio State and I’m going to this place of chaos where it’s like ‘what’s going on with the future of this franchise?’,” he said. ![]() The difficult transition from collegiate hero to NFL rookie was compounded by the fact that the Houston Oilers franchise was mired in a feud between the owner and the city. In 1996, Eddie was drafted by the Houston Oilers with the 14th overall pick in the NFL Draft. His number 27 was retired by Ohio State, and in 2011 Eddie was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Buckeyes gave George the chance to play running back, and four years later he rewarded that decision by winning the 1995 Heisman Trophy (he also won the Doak Walker Award, the Jim Brown Award, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, was the 1995 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and voted as a Consensus All-America). But they wanted me to play linebacker.” He decided to transfer from his home high school in Abington, PA to Virginia’s Fork Union Military Academy, where he caught the eye of the coaching staff from Ohio State University. “I grew up in Philadelphia, and I wanted to go to Penn State and play running back. In high school, he excelled as a star running back, but his home-state football power wanted him to play on the other side of the ball. The Heisman Trophy-winning running back who brought the NFL to Tennessee has written a brilliant second act to his career where he stars as a leading man on stage, screen, & in studio, as well as serving others as a mentor in the classroom, the board room & the stock market.Įddie’s football career easily could’ve stalled before it started. Eddie George is Nashville’s ultimate crossover artist.
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