Wrong Thoughts
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--> Eddie George thought his NFL career would end when he retired in four or five years as the Tennessee Titans' career rushing leader.
He still might get a parade someday, and the Titans may even retire his No. 27. But he said Wednesday that he is too busy playing with his new team -- the Dallas Cowboys -- to think about what he calls a business decision.
"I have no animosity toward the organization,” he said in a conference call with reporters in Tennessee.
"It's something that happened. It's a business. I understand that. I had some great years there. I have some great memories, George said.
"That's how I choose to think about the situation rather than be bitter about it, and I'm not going to put forth the energy to thinking bad thoughts or be negative toward anybody. It is what it is, and I'm moving on to another situation.
Ironically, George will be playing his former teammates Monday night, when the Titans visit the Cowboys. The otherwise meaningless game offers George a chance to say the goodbyes missed in his shocking release on July 21.
The Titans had talked with George for months about a pay cut to help them with the salary cap. He refused and was released a week before teams headed to training camp.
Hasty departures aren't unusual in the NFL, and George immediately landed a deal with the Cowboys. If George had been released in March, his departure wouldn't be an issue now.
"The timing of it wasn't ideal,'' George said. "It had to be done. I had to take the cards that were given to me and play the hand.''
The move came so quick George had to have some of his belongings shipped to him in Oxnard, Calif., where Dallas held training camp. He had little time for talk.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher said they spoke as friends after the release.
"We wished each other well. We didn't have to go back and rehash what happened. Everybody knew what happened,'' Fisher said. "We were just kind of shocked at the fact that it happened and went on from there. We told him we'd be crossing paths four to six weeks from when we released him.''
George did call a couple of Tennessee's offensive linemen. He told them he didn't make the comments criticizing the Titans for not investing in better linemen. He said Wednesday he hopes to visit with them at the team hotel before the game.
Right guard Benji Olson left George a message but hasn't heard back. Olson jokingly dabbed at his eyes with a T-shirt and said he guessed the two weren't as close as he thought.
"I think people are starting to come to the fact that's just the way the business is,'' Olson said.
George has found time in recent weeks to talk with close friends like Titans cornerback Samari Rolle, the best man at his wedding. The topic of conversation usually involves family and how George is settling in with the Cowboys.
"We don't talk about whether it was right or wrong what the Titans did,'' left tackle Brad Hopkins said. "We don't talk about whether he's going to get us back being a Cowboy.''
The Titans haven't missed a beat on offense without George. Second-year back Chris Brown has helped the running game look better than it has in years in the preseason with 107 yards on just 16 carries, nearly a 7-yard per carry average.
George has 11 carries for 40 yards, a 3.6-yard average, for Dallas. That includes a 23-yard rush last week against Oakland.
Cowboys coach Bill Parcells was noncommittal when asked about George's status during training camp.
"Well, if he takes his shirt off he looks like a male model ... embarrassing the rest of the players around here,'' Parcells said.
As jarring as George's release was, Hopkins said NFL players are used to sudden changes and losing close teammates for business reasons. He listed players like former defensive tackle Henry Ford as just one of several players let go in recent years.
"These are names that kind of go under the radar. But when you've got a big one, one you definitely think should retire a Titan, then it becomes more pertinent,'' Hopkins said.
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