As he stood in the backfield—in his white No. 27 Houston Oilers jersey and rocking the eye black under his helmet—Eddie George waited to receive the handoff from the late Steve McNair from the Ravens’ 1-yard line.
It was the Oilers’ final game of the 1996 NFL season; a late December road game against Baltimore in a nearly packed-to-capacity Memorial Stadium. A couple plays before, George had exploded through the hole and gashed Baltimore’s defense for 40 yards up the right sideline before he was tackled by Donny Brady just two yards shy of the goal line.
Two plays later, “Big Cat”—George’s nickname given to him by running back coach Sherman Smith—scored the Oilers’ first touchdown of the game. While Houston would go on to defeat Baltimore, 24–21, it was George’s final score of his rookie season and his final TD as part of the Oilers’ franchise located in Houston.
“Every time I played, [Smith] told me to set the tone, get through the line of scrimmage, hunt for the safeties, don’t let them off the hook,” George says.
That advice stuck with George as the Oilers dealt with turbulent times in relocating to Nashville in 1997 as the Tennessee Oilers. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis before moving to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville in 1998 and later being renamed the Tennessee Titans ahead of the 1999 season.
Even today, Smith’s advice and the Oilers/Titans’ relocation to Nashville serves a bigger purpose for George. The 1995 Heisman Trophy winner never imagined the lessons he learned on the gridiron would come full circle. When the franchise moved to Nashville, the first two training camps were held at Tennessee State University, a historically Black college and university roughly 10 minutes from where the Titans played their home games at what was then Adelphia Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium).
And while George—who spent nine years in the NFL—enjoyed success in Nashville, his love for the game brought him back to that place when he was named Tennessee State’s 22nd football coach in April.
“We came to TSU for our first practices and knowing all of the great guys who have come through here, I am blessed to be given the keys of this institution to turn this program around in the right direction,” George says.
“I took Smith’s advice to heart when I was a player because I now know what it means to set the tone—not just as a player anymore—but for my players and coaching staff and moving this program forward with the right resources.”
