Eddie George

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This article is about an American football player. For information on the former Governor of the Bank of England, see Edward George, Baron George.

Edward Nathan George, Jr. (born September 24, 1973 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former American football running back of the NFL. He played for the Tennessee Titans both in Tennessee and in Houston when the franchise was known as the Houston Oilers, and spent his final season with the Dallas Cowboys. He is best known for his career with Tennessee Titans.

[edit] High School

George made the decision to stay at Fork Union for a fifth prep school year. Such choices are commonly made by high school football players hoping to improve their recruitment status with colleges, but for George it meant another year of vigorous military lifestyle. George went on to rush for 1,372 yards in his fifth season at Fork Union, attracting the attention of several major colleges. He went on to attend college at Ohio State University.

[edit] College career

As a freshman running back for the Buckeyes, George was an instant contributor. He scored 3 rushing touchdowns in a win over Syracuse University. However, he suffered a major setback in a game against the University of Illinois. In that game, George committed a fumble at Illinois 4-yard line that was returned 96 yards for a touchdown. Later in the game, with Ohio State leading by 2 points in the final period, George committed another fumble, this one on Illinois' 1-yard line. Illinois recovered the fumble and drove for the game winning touchdown.

Before the Illinois game, George had carried the ball 25 times and scored 5 touchdowns, but for the rest of the season, he had only 12 more rushing attempts and didn't score once. In the following season, George was used as the team's third string running back, behind Raymont Harris. He carried the ball only 42 times, mostly when Ohio State had a large lead late in games. However, as a junior, George became the team's starting running back and went on to rush for 1,442 yards and 12 touchdowns.

As a senior in the 1995 season, George rushed for a school record 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns, an average of 152.2 yards per game. One of his best performances of the year was in a 45-26 win over the University of Notre Dame, where he rushed for 207 yards, his third 200 yard game of the season. He also rushed for a school-record 314 yards and scored 3 touchdowns in OSU's victory over Illinois. In the 3 years since committing his 2 fumbles in the Illinois game as a freshman, George had over 600 rushing attempts and fumbled only 6 times. Ohio State finished the season with an 11-1 record and George won the Heisman Trophy in the closest vote in the history of the award at the time, beating University of Nebraska's Tommie Frazier by 264 ballots. Following the season, he was the first-round draft selection of the Houston Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans). George left Ohio State second in school history in career rushing yards (3,768) and third in rushing touchdowns (44).

[edit] NFL career

George won the NFL Rookie of the Year award in 1996, and was the Titans' starting tailback until 2003, never missing a start due to injury. He made the Pro Bowl 4 times(1997-2000), and assisted the Titans to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams 23-16. George gained 391 combined rushing and receiving yards in the Titans' 3 playoff games that year, and went on to rush for 95 yards, catch 2 passes for 35 yards, and score 2 touchdowns in the Super Bowl.

George signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys on July 23, 2004 for $1.5 million plus incentives that could have earned him more than the $4.25 million he would have made under his contract with the Titans, who released him on July 21 in part due to salary cap considerations. He is out of football as of the 2005 NFL season. Though he has not yet announced his retirement, it is unlikely he will ever play again.

His career totals include 10,441 rushing yards, 268 receptions, 2,227 receiving yards, and 78 touchdowns(68 rushing and 10 receiving).

[edit] Trivia

George's mother, Donna, had changed her schedule as a flight attendant (at the request of Eddie's agent, Lamont Smith) to be in San Antonio for Eddie's signing of his first NFL contract on July 19, 1996. If she hadn't, she would have been aboard TWA Flight 800, which had crashed shortly after takeoff two days earlier. [1]

[edit] Further reading

Pennington, Bill. The Heisman, Great American Stories of the Men Who Won. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers P, 2004. ISBN 0-06-055471-1 pages 305-313.(1), (2), (3)

[edit] External links

• Eddie George's Official Website

• Buckeyes all-time statistical leaders

• Heisman bio