I was pretty sure that Eddie George was an unhappy camper when he got demoted to the bench in his one ill-fated season in Dallas. But man, he was really bummed out. According to this article, George himself says it even affected him physically.
For much of his life, that box was labeled ''football.'' He had such a desire to run the ball that it overran virtually everything else. It paid off with the Heisman Trophy, the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and a Super Bowl bid. But things changed. The Titans released him in 2004 due to a salary cap. A dark year followed with the Dallas Cowboys, and the depression set in.
''That was a long, long season in Dallas,'' says George, now 32. ''The thing that was most dear to me had disappeared. I had headaches. My heart was heavy. I was stressed, and there was the fear of uncertainty. I knew I wanted to do something, but I just didn't know what. I had to work on finding myself, and new ways of being challenged.''
What the article is really about is Eddie George and his new career as an actor. Maybe he should've acted like a good running back when he was in Dallas. OK, that was a cheap shot. Even though the running game was a disaster when he was the main man, George always seemed to be a classy kind of guy. And for years, he was an excellent running back who was as physical as they come.
Good luck in your quest for an Oscar, Eddie.