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George still dreams of suiting up again
He's OK if it's over, but says he can still run ball
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
He's a running back with more than 10,000 yards on his resume, yet Eddie George can't even get a phone call these days.
"It's mind-boggling to me,'' George said last week. "It is almost as if I have been blackballed or something to a degree. I am asking for a workout, not a contract. I just want an opportunity.
"Did I tick somebody off? Or did something happen that I cannot even get a look? I can't explain it.''
Yet if this is the end — something George is not willing to concede — he said it's not how he will remember his NFL career and hopes it's not how Titans fans will remember him either.
George played for the Oilers/Titans from 1996-2003, is the franchise's all-time leading rusher and arguably its all-time most popular player.
Released by the Titans at his request in 2004, George signed on with the Dallas Cowboys and saw little action.
Past the halfway point of the 2005 season, he's still out of football.
"It is not the end of the world if I don't play again," George said. "I look back at my career and I've had a wonderful career. It allowed me to do some great things, to meet some great people. I've learned a lot about myself. It's made me financially stable.
"I have gotten a lot out of the game, so if I don't play again I am not going to feel like I lost out on something or feel like I need to go on the side of the road and jump off a bridge or something like that. But it has been a part of me for so long and in my mind I didn't want it to end this way.
"If you look at the careers of every great athlete it doesn't always end perfectly. You think of Michael Jordan with the Bulls, you think of him making that last shot in Utah, the game-winner in Game 6. That's how we view him. But in reality he played for the Wizards for a couple of years. So people aren't going to necessarily remember how I left, they are going to remember the good things I did in the game and that's fine.''
George, 32, has already started his life after football, but said he's keeping himself in shape in the event a locker room door swings open.
He is host of G4's Training Camp, a series premiering tomorrow night at 10:30 on Comcast Channel 55 or 74, DirecTV (354) and Dish Network (191). The show takes video gamers onto the playing field with pro athletes. George is also doing some motivational speaking, working with his landscaping business and is considering business school at Ohio State, his alma mater, or Vanderbilt. He may do some commentating next year.
George still "hasn't signed the papers to retire'' from the NFL, but admits the events of recent months have been discouraging.
"I am always keeping in the back of my mind that if something does open up, I want to be ready for that,'' George said. "But it doesn't look like I'll land somewhere this year because teams have lost running backs — first, second and third string — and I still haven't gotten any phone calls. ... I'll probably wait until next year and see if anything opens up.''
George's agents, Lamont Smith and Peter Schaffer, have tried to drum up interest.
With the Cowboys, George rushed for a career-low 432 yards on 132 carries and was inactive for several games down the stretch. He said Dallas never gave him a fair chance.
"What has been frustrating has been when I see guys time and again that have messed up and been bad for different organizations, and they get opportunities. I haven't even gotten a phone call and it is based off of perception and opinion,'' George said. "That is fine if you have that perception. All I am saying is: Let me at least prove that wrong. Let me at least work out. This is kind of bizarre, considering my track record. You would think I would get the benefit of the doubt, but I guess it is in peoples' minds that I am done.''
George said his first year out of football since childhood has allowed him to spend more time with his family. He said he's kept up with the Titans, and would love to finish his career with them. George has heard the buzz that he might sign with his old team for a day so he could retire a Titan.
"If this is the end of this thing, I would love to retire a Titan. I have no bitter feelings toward the organization at all. They gave me the opportunity, to be a part of it was great. This is where I'm known, this is where I feel at home,'' George said.
"Who knows? It could be a year from now, a couple of months from now, I have no idea. You never know what might happen.'' •
He's OK if it's over, but says he can still run ball
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
He's a running back with more than 10,000 yards on his resume, yet Eddie George can't even get a phone call these days.
"It's mind-boggling to me,'' George said last week. "It is almost as if I have been blackballed or something to a degree. I am asking for a workout, not a contract. I just want an opportunity.
"Did I tick somebody off? Or did something happen that I cannot even get a look? I can't explain it.''
Yet if this is the end — something George is not willing to concede — he said it's not how he will remember his NFL career and hopes it's not how Titans fans will remember him either.
George played for the Oilers/Titans from 1996-2003, is the franchise's all-time leading rusher and arguably its all-time most popular player.
Released by the Titans at his request in 2004, George signed on with the Dallas Cowboys and saw little action.
Past the halfway point of the 2005 season, he's still out of football.
"It is not the end of the world if I don't play again," George said. "I look back at my career and I've had a wonderful career. It allowed me to do some great things, to meet some great people. I've learned a lot about myself. It's made me financially stable.
"I have gotten a lot out of the game, so if I don't play again I am not going to feel like I lost out on something or feel like I need to go on the side of the road and jump off a bridge or something like that. But it has been a part of me for so long and in my mind I didn't want it to end this way.
"If you look at the careers of every great athlete it doesn't always end perfectly. You think of Michael Jordan with the Bulls, you think of him making that last shot in Utah, the game-winner in Game 6. That's how we view him. But in reality he played for the Wizards for a couple of years. So people aren't going to necessarily remember how I left, they are going to remember the good things I did in the game and that's fine.''
George, 32, has already started his life after football, but said he's keeping himself in shape in the event a locker room door swings open.
He is host of G4's Training Camp, a series premiering tomorrow night at 10:30 on Comcast Channel 55 or 74, DirecTV (354) and Dish Network (191). The show takes video gamers onto the playing field with pro athletes. George is also doing some motivational speaking, working with his landscaping business and is considering business school at Ohio State, his alma mater, or Vanderbilt. He may do some commentating next year.
George still "hasn't signed the papers to retire'' from the NFL, but admits the events of recent months have been discouraging.
"I am always keeping in the back of my mind that if something does open up, I want to be ready for that,'' George said. "But it doesn't look like I'll land somewhere this year because teams have lost running backs — first, second and third string — and I still haven't gotten any phone calls. ... I'll probably wait until next year and see if anything opens up.''
George's agents, Lamont Smith and Peter Schaffer, have tried to drum up interest.
With the Cowboys, George rushed for a career-low 432 yards on 132 carries and was inactive for several games down the stretch. He said Dallas never gave him a fair chance.
"What has been frustrating has been when I see guys time and again that have messed up and been bad for different organizations, and they get opportunities. I haven't even gotten a phone call and it is based off of perception and opinion,'' George said. "That is fine if you have that perception. All I am saying is: Let me at least prove that wrong. Let me at least work out. This is kind of bizarre, considering my track record. You would think I would get the benefit of the doubt, but I guess it is in peoples' minds that I am done.''
George said his first year out of football since childhood has allowed him to spend more time with his family. He said he's kept up with the Titans, and would love to finish his career with them. George has heard the buzz that he might sign with his old team for a day so he could retire a Titan.
"If this is the end of this thing, I would love to retire a Titan. I have no bitter feelings toward the organization at all. They gave me the opportunity, to be a part of it was great. This is where I'm known, this is where I feel at home,'' George said.
"Who knows? It could be a year from now, a couple of months from now, I have no idea. You never know what might happen.'' •
