It’s almost impossible to envision Eddie George losing a race at football practice or falling down while running leaping over a hurdle.
After all, George — a 6-foot-3, 235-pound running back — won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State and rushed for 10,441 yards in the NFL from 1996 to 2004.
George, however, learned two valuable lessons from those impossible-to-picture experiences from coach Micky Sullivan at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy. With those memories in mind, George is serving as the spokesman for the “Dear Seniors” program, which will debut at the Russell Athletic Bowl between Miami, Fla., and West Virginia on Wednesday night. George will share a letter he wrote to Sullivan and to senior high school players as part of the Russell Athletic initiative.
George shared some of those experiences with Sullivan at Fork Union with Sporting News.
“(Sullivan) pretty much acted as father figure to me,” George told SN. “He really instilled discipline in me, and hope and love. I needed all of those things at that particular time to reach my full potential as not only an athlete but as a man.”
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George recalled two vivid moments when Sullivan made the difference. The first came at a football practice where his teammates had to run wind sprints until they won a race. George finally won and fell to the ground, but Sullivan told him to get back up and run another one.
“He pulled me aside and called me a rose petal,” George said. “He said, ‘You look good, but you are fragile.’ Then, he said, ‘Son, do you want to play big-time college football?’ I said, ‘Yes sir, I do.’ He said, ‘Listen to me, and I will get you there.’”
That path took another unexpected turn when Sullivan pushed George to do something he didn’t want to do: run the hurdles for the track team. George said he ran in a slow heat and tripped over a hurdle toward the end of the race. He had a choice.
“Everybody was laughing at me and I could either finish the race or walk off to the side,” George said. “I finished the race and said to myself, ‘I’m never going to let that happen again.’ From then on, I attacked everything.”
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George would be a state champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles before going on to Ohio State. From there, he rushed for 1,927 yards and 24 TDs in 1995 en route to winning the Heisman Trophy and enjoyed a successful NFL career with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. George said coaches such as John Cooper and Jeff Fisher also made a difference.
“It’s not about wins and losses,” George said. “Yes, there are lessons within it. Yes, you want to win championships, but it’s about the personal development of the athlete. The best coaches I’ve been around coached the person and not the athlete.”
George hopes that message is spread through “Dear Seniors.” During the game, Russell Athletic will ask coaches across the country to post their farewell messages to outgoing seniors by using the #DearSeniors hashtag on social media channels. For more information, visit www.russellathletic.com.
“It could be something that takes off, but more importantly you want it to hit home,” George said. “You want it to resonate with the athletes. It’s a great lesson to be mindful and to really embrace where you are, what these people mean to you and what being a senior means as you transition to the next level.”
