Latest news with #EddieGeorge
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Congratulations Pouring In For NFL Legend Jerome Bettis
Congratulations Pouring In For NFL Legend Jerome Bettis originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis became one of the best players in NFL history during his 13-year career, which also earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Advertisement Bettis started his career in 1993, drafted with the No. 10 pick by the Los Angeles Rams. After spending three years with Los Angeles/St. Louis, Bettis made his way to Pittsburgh, where his career really started to take off. Standing at 5-foot-11 and 252 pounds, Bettis, also known as "The Bus," became known for his physical style of play, and it showed. He not only became one of the most successful players in terms of rushing touchdowns, but he also has the eighth-most rushing yards in NFL history. Following the 2005 season, Bettis retired from football and, less than one year later, on July 8, 2006, he got married to Trameka Boykin. And recently, the couple celebrated their 19th anniversary. "Happy 19th anniversary to my rock, my queen, my everything," Bettis wrote on Instagram. "Thank you for standing by me through it all. Love you @mrsbussy01" Advertisement The NFL world was excited for the Bettis couple, taking to the Instagram comment section to leave their congratulatory thoughts. "Congratulations 👏👏🔥," one fan said. "Happy Anniversary," added former Titans RB Eddie George. "Congratulations happy anniversary," wrote a third. "Congratulations, my brother. God is great…" replied a fourth "Congratulations 👏👏👏🎉🎉🎉🎉," added a fifth. "Time flies! Happy Anniversary. Keep on smiling," posted a sixth. Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome BettisBrett Davis-Imagn Images Bettis and Boykin married in Montego Bay, Jamaica, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, where they currently reside. They share two kids together, including daughter Jada, 20, and son Jerome Jr., 17. Advertisement In fact, Jerome Bettis Jr. will be starting his freshman season of college in 2025-26 with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, his father's alma mater. He ranked as a 3-star wide receiver and a top-100 prospect out of Georgia in the 2025 class (247Sports). Related: T.J. Watt Bracing For Punishment From NFL Before 2025 Season This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
New York Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
From Broadway to Bowling Green, Eddie George finds his next stage
The whispers could be heard as he walked down the street to Urban Meyer's restaurant. When he stood on the sidewalk speaking to a small group of reporters, more passersby began noticing. 'That's Eddie George, a famous Ohio State player,' one woman told her kids. Some across the street tried to get a good angle to take a photo. Once he moved inside the restaurant, fans took pictures of George through the glass that led to a closed-door fundraiser event for his latest venture: coaching Bowling Green football. Advertisement Thirty years ago, George won the Heisman Trophy as a running back at Ohio State. Since then, he's starred in the NFL, started businesses and even dabbled in acting. Now he's wearing a brown suit with a Bowling Green pin on his lapel, bringing attention to an unexpected location. Unlike most Mid-American Conference football coaches, George is a celebrity everywhere he goes, no matter what color he wears. He can't help but attract attention. It was the case when he was in Nashville, where he played for the Titans and spent the past four years coaching Tennessee State in the second-highest level of college football, in the FCS. It's even truer in Ohio. On this day last month in Dublin, outside of Columbus, George talked to Bowling Green boosters and football alumni to get to know them and encourage donations to his new program. He talked about his vision for Bowling Green and what allowed him to go from zero coaching experience to the FCS playoffs in four years at Tennessee State. What made him the right person for the Tigers' rebuild is why Bowling Green bet on him: He has the name to attract attention and resources to a program in need of a jolt, but he doesn't go out of the way to draw attention to his fame, either. And that's what he's leaning into in his first FBS coaching job in the same state where his football hero status began. 'I've been a celebrity in this state for over 30 years. That's not going anywhere, but when it comes down to it, when I put that whistle around my neck, we are in the heat of battle, I'm training guys or pushing them beyond their comfort zone, that's a different animal,' George said. 'That? I'm back to my old playing days. That's the spirit and that's not to be played with.' When George retired from the NFL in 2005 after rushing for more than 10,000 yards, he wanted something different. Tired of the games, the practices and the late nights, he left the sport entirely. His pursuit of other interests led him to unexpected places. Even Broadway. During his playing time, George had become interested in acting, but he didn't start taking it seriously until after he retired. He hired an acting coach and earned roles in multiple plays, making it all the way to New York in 2016 with the long-running musical 'Chicago.' On top of acting, he earned his master's degree in business administration at Northwestern and started businesses in Nashville and Ohio, including a restaurant with multiple locations and the Edward George Wealth Management Group. He was inducted into the Nashville Entrepreneurs' Hall of Fame in 2023. Advertisement He had a good life with his wife, Tamara, and two sons, Eriq and Jaire. The only time he thought about coaching? When building dynasties in the 'NCAA Football' video game. That changed in April 2021 when Tennessee State let go of longtime coach Rod Reed and called George. Another HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Jackson State, had hired Deion Sanders the previous fall despite his lack of college coaching experience. Now Tennessee State needed some life breathed back into the program after finishing below .500 three years in a row and winning more than seven games just twice in 11 years. At first, George was hesitant to entertain interest because he didn't see himself as a coach and didn't want to be a prop to sell tickets. If he was going to take over the Tigers, he wanted it to be about the players. 'I wasn't going to do a reality show tied to it,' George said. 'It's not about the camera, my hits on Instagram, my content or any of that. There's a place for all that, but it was important, especially in the beginning, that it not be about me, it be about them.' The administration committed to George as the coach, not the celebrity, and he considered the job. He talked with his wife about it and thought more about what type of culture and philosophy he wanted to imprint on the team. Everyone knows George was a talented football player, but his journey beyond football was one worth telling and one he thought he could use to help athletes at Tennessee State. 'It meant sacrificing a lot of things I had been working on prior to that, acting and business,' George said. 'But the gratification that I got from helping young people and giving them guidance and seeing the light bulb go off — challenging them and developing them to become leaders is really God's work.' After 15 years away, George loved getting back in the locker room, putting a game plan together and pushing players beyond their limits. He loved returning to the grind of football. But being a first-year head coach with no experience as an assistant isn't easy. George took over a Tennessee State program with limited resources and got a reality check with all of the off-the-field responsibilities, especially at an FCS school with budget constraints. Advertisement Once he got his bearings, the program started trending in the right direction. Though Tennessee State lost three of its first four games under George, it went on a four-game winning streak after that and finished 5-6 in the fall of 2021. 'There were a lot of moving parts at TSU, from compliance to the players to equipment, making sure lines are on the field, the scheduling — all of it was overwhelming,' George said. 'I had to organize my thoughts, but once I got a rhythm of it and I realized where I needed to spend my time, it was, 'OK, the culture has to be felt from top to bottom, period. Excellence all the way through.'' George's words still come to Rodell Rahmaan's mind before each of his professional indoor football games with the Omaha Beef. No mas. The first time he heard those words in a football setting was days before Tennessee State traveled to Eastern Illinois for a midseason game. The Tigers had won two in a row when George walked into a team meeting and relayed the message of the week. 'He wanted us to dominate them, have them saying no more, like they're done,' Rahmaan said. Tennessee State embraced it and beat Eastern Illinois 28-0, the largest win in George's first season. With about four minutes left, Rahmaan heard a 'no mas' chant break among players. 'I could remember the looks on their faces with our whole team yelling,' Rahmaan said. 'Everybody rallied together.' A graduate of Beechcroft High, 20 minutes from Ohio State, Rahmaan was well aware of who George was when he graduated from Bowling Green in 2020 and transferred to Tennessee State to play for George with his final year of eligibility. 'To have a legend from your hometown college hold me in that high regard, I felt like I was in heaven getting a call from him,' Rahmaan said. Rahmaan spent one year with George, who displayed natural coaching instincts despite his inexperience. His playing experience gave him the ability to show players how to do things rather than just telling them. George kept everybody calm, even in high-intensity moments, and found ways to bring out confidence in his team. Still, it wasn't a straight line of success. The team ended his first season on a three-game losing streak and then backtracked to a 4-7 record in 2022. George saw discipline issues he had to address on his roster and coaching staff. His focus was getting his culture under control as he learned how to coach on the fly. Advertisement 'The first year was like, 'Do I like this? Do I love it? I don't know,'' George said. 'But seeing the small wins, I got addicted to it. All the years of preparation and the life after the game prepared me for this.' The Tigers started 6-2 in 2023 but ended on a three-game losing streak. So in the 2024 offseason, he implemented a new mindset called 'nine strong,' which became a phrase used around the facility. George focused on making sure all nine position groups were strong from top to bottom so that at the end of November they were playing their best football. Last fall, Tennessee State won seven of its final eight games before losing to Montana its first FCS playoff appearance in 11 years. Three months later, George was watching ESPN when news came across the bottom ticker that caught his eye. Bowling Green head coach Scot Loeffler had left to be the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterbacks coach, an early-spring move that put the Falcons in a precarious position long after the coaching carousel slowed. 'That's a bad situation to be in right now,' George remembered thinking to himself. 'I wonder what they're going to do.' 'Lo and behold, it's me,' he said recently. When athletic director Derek Van der Merwe began his search to replace Loeffler, he reached out to former coaches Meyer (2001-02) and Dave Clawson (2009-13). Both told him he had to find a coach who could embrace the community. Meyer gave Van der Merwe the 51-year-old George's name. 'I was a little bit skeptical about a Heisman trophy winner and the Titan,' Van der Merwe said. 'He said, 'No, do you know Eddie as a person?' I would say the first phone call I went in thinking how does an individual who has done what he's done translate into the leader of a college football team? Does he have that heart of service?' Advertisement It took one conversation to realize that George was different. 'You saw a humble spirit, one who understood the value of higher education,' he said. 'It was clearly evident to me that this was a man who spent his life learning, viewed the future and was committed to growth.' George, who also interviewed with the Chicago Bears last winter, worried because he wasn't actively trying to leave Tennessee State. There were challenges in the Tigers' athletic department with an expiring contract coming up for George, some bad financials and other things that George said he and the administration were working out, but he intended to stick it out. He didn't want word getting back to his team that he was interviewing at Bowling Green if he had no interest in leaving the program he just rebuilt. He got assurance that nothing would leak and began talking to Meyer, his wife, former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and others. He started to believe it was right for him. 'We talked over the pros and cons and led to a decision that it was the best decision for me, not from a financial standpoint, but a support standpoint,' said George, who signed a five-year deal with a base salary of $600,000. 'We could really build this brand in a conference that is well established and going places.' Bowling Green made the hire official on March 9. 'Eddie talked about his journey and how hard work defined who he was, how he just kept working and was going to get better at everything whether as a player or on Broadway or as a head football coach,' Bowling Green president Rodney Rogers said. 'That is a great fit at schools like BG, because that is in essence who we are.' Before George found a house in Bowling Green, he moved into a Best Western, eating waffles for breakfast in the lobby and going to dinner at local restaurants. He had to put a program together while intertwining himself with the alumni base and a small, tight-nit community. 'I have a hard time envisioning Eddie in a Best Western,' Meyer said. 'But it's important he acclimates to that town.' Advertisement The town of Bowling Green has a population of just over 31,000 nestled amid northwestern Ohio farm land. The state university has an enrollment of under 20,000. It's the type of place where somebody of George's stature can't go into a restaurant or store without somebody stopping him. 'Bowling Green is big enough to be a Division I athletic program, but we're small enough where everybody kind of knows everybody and you can kind of do things and see the results of what you do,' Rogers said. Meyer, who went 17-6 with the Falcons before leading Utah to an unbeaten season and winning a total of three national championships at Florida and Ohio State, still raves about the Bowling Green community, which is why he hosted a fundraiser at his Columbus-area restaurant in May. Clawson, who recently retired as the head coach at Wake Forest, still visits Bowling Green and holds fond memories of the patience and support he received. After winning seven games to begin his career, he won two the next year and finished 5-7 in Year 3. 'Everybody had my back,' Clawson said. Two years later, he won the MAC title, beating Northern Illinois 47-27 in front of a sea of orange that made the trip to Detroit to see the program's first conference title since 1992. 'I still get goosebumps thinking about that game and how much orange was in the stands,' Clawson said. 'It felt like a big deal that we were in that game. The amount of students, the amount of community members, the amount of buses that came up, it was awesome.' The Falcons won another MAC title two years later under Dino Babers, who left for Syracuse. But the past decade has been a struggle to reach those heights. Bowling Green made a surprise move to replace Babers with Texas Tech running backs coach Mike Jinks, who went just 7-24 before being fired in his third season. In came Loeffler, whose slow build eventually led to a pair of 7-6 records in each of the past two years to end the program's streak of seven consecutive losing seasons, only for Loeffler to leave to become an NFL position coach. Advertisement 'People who embrace this campus and build this program with the community beside them have had success, because they view this exercise of success through building the community around the program,' Van der Merwe said. 'The community has helped the coaches solve programs. Then they move on and we celebrate that and we find the next person. Where we've made mistakes is when we fail to bring somebody in who embraces that.' The Falcons were just one win away from the MAC championship game last season, but a loss to Miami (OH) in the last week of the regular season cost them a trip to Detroit. Despite the program's struggles over the past decade, upward mobility in the conference is readily available. There are a lot of similarities between MAC schools, and 10 programs have won at least one conference title in the past 20 seasons. Roster turnover in the transfer portal age has now made the conference even more fluid. 'It's good to see teams clumping at the top, that's what you want to see. You hope that continues,' MAC commissioner John Steinbrecher said. 'We are an evolving enterprise. You used to be building a program for three or four or five-plus years, but now you're rebuilding a program year after year.' Though George didn't arrive until March — long after the first transfer portal window in December — he made a splash in the April portal window. Bowling Green's transfer class over the two windows is ranked No. 1 in the MAC by 247Sports, including an April commitment from ex-Notre Dame and Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne after George arrived. Bowling Green had an average announced attendance of 13,358 last year, seventh out of 12 MAC teams. According to a Bowling Green spokesman, season ticket sales have risen 40 percent from last season so far, while sales for single-game and group tickets have risen 2,000 percent since they opened on June 2. '(Tennessee State) is not an easy position, but he did a nice job there and I look forward to him continuing to build the BG program,' Steinbrecher said. 'I expect there will be a buzz around BG road games this year, not that there wasn't before, but this is another element that comes with it.' Advertisement George's celebrity isn't going anywhere, especially in Ohio, where he's a hero to people like Rahmaan and many of the BG players who grew up in the state. There's little doubt his name recognition has already worked in his favor when it comes to community support in Ohio and putting Bowling Green on the college football map nationally. But that's just one side of George. The side that fell in love with the grind of being a head coach and teaching is who Van der Merwe fell for. It's also the one George can't wait to show as the next stage of his unexpected new career begins. 'I lived the entertainment world,' George said, 'but this has to come from a real place.'
Forbes
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Eddie George's Bowling Green Falcons Among College Football Teams With Light 2025 Travel Schedules
Eddie George was hired at Bowling Green on March 9, 2025, a little more than one month prior to the ... More Falcons' spring game. With conference realignment altering travel schedules throughout most of Division-I athletics, and drastically so in some instances, it can be difficult to construct game schedules that include relatively light itineraries. There are a handful of football teams, though, that will have it pretty easy in 2025 when it comes to travel. That is especially the case with Bowling Green in what will be Eddie George's first season running the program. In fact, eight of the Falcons' first nine games are in the state of Ohio, which they leave only three times in 2025. The first trip is roughly 275 miles south to Louisville for a September 20 matchup. It will be another seven weeks before the Falcons again cross the state border, a short trip (75 miles) to Ypsilanti when they visit Eastern Michigan on November 8. Bowling Green concludes the regular season November 25 at UMass, the team's only trip outside the region, though like the other 11 games is in the Eastern Time Zone. Indeed, there will be no need to change wrist watches. In addition, each of the Falcons' in-state trips – Cincinnati, Ohio and Kent State -- is less than 200 miles one way. Here is a look at the Falcons' schedule in George's first season at the helm. The 1995 Heisman winner at Ohio State was hired March 9 after four seasons (24-22) as coach at Tennessee State, which he led to an FCS playoff berth last year. George, who will return to his alma mater when the Falcons kick off the 2027 season in Columbus, was hired after Scott Loeffler departed to become the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback coach. Philly, by the way, is George's hometown. Below are a few other teams that have rather favorable travel schedules, at least during this season's first half. Mario Cristobal's team does not leave the Sunshine State until November. Actually, October 31 when the 'Canes fly to Dallas to play SMU the following day. That is the only time in the season's first 10 games that Miami leaves the state. In fact, six of the first seven games are at Hard Rock Stadium with the lone road date in that stretch 500 miles to the north in Tallahassee against rival Florida State on October 4. The Hurricanes kick off their season in primetime Sunday, August 31 against Notre Dame. Bethune-Cookman, USF and Florida visit Hard Rock the next three weeks. Miami then has an open date prior to visiting the Seminoles, who will be the fourth straight in-state team the Hurricanes face. Following another open week, Louisville and Stanford make their way to Miami Gardens. The Bulldogs' first five games, played without an open date, are within the borders of the Magnolia state. Jeff Lebby's second season at the helm in Starkville opens at Southern Miss and is followed by four straight at Davis Wade Stadium: Arizona State, Alcorn State, Northern Illinois and Tennessee. MSU's first out-of-state game is at Texas A&M on October 4. The Tigers have eight home games this season, including the entire first half of the schedule. The run of six straight at Faurot Field commences August 30 versus Central Arkansas and is followed by visits from Kansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, UMass and, following an open date, Alabama on October 11. Mizzou finally hits the road for an October 18 encounter at Auburn. The Wolfpack left the Carolinas – note the plural – twice in their 12 regular season games last year. This season, NC State's first six games are in the state of North Carolina and four of them are in the friendly confines of Carter-Finley Stadium. The two road trips are just that: 100 miles west on I-40 to meet Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on September 11 for a Thursday night game, then 25 miles to Durham to face Duke the following Saturday. Dave Doeren's 12th season at the helm in Raleigh gets underway August 28 against visiting East Carolina in the second straight game against the Pirates after losing to them in last year's Military Bowl. Virginia arrives in town the following week and, after the aforementioned road trips, the Wolfpack hosts Virginia Tech and Campbell. The first out-of-state matchup is at Notre Dame on October 11. The schedule for Barry Odom's first season in West Lafayette includes the Boilermakers not leaving Indiana until an October 11 trip to Minnesota. Four of the first five games are at home with the lone trip 200 miles north to South Bend to face the Fighting Irish on September 20. The first three games are at Ross-Ade Stadium against Ball State, Southern Illinois and, for the first time in 49 years, USC. The trip to Notre Dame is followed by an open week prior to Illinois' visit October 4. The Bulls play their first five games within the state's borders. What a start to the season it will be as they host Boise State on a Thursday evening (August 28) before trips up to Gainesville to face Florida and then down to Miami the next two weeks. USF hosts South Carolina State on September 20 and, following an open week, opens American Conference play against visiting Charlotte. Their first trip outside the Sunshine State is October 10 for a Friday evening matchup at North Texas in what will be the Bulls' longest trip of the season.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Madden NFL 26 cover: Saquon Barkley joins list of NFL players on Madden video game cover
The Madden video game has been entertaining football and video game fans since the first edition of the game was released in 1988. The latest edition, Madden NFL 26, is set to be released on Aug. 14, 2025. The latest athlete on the cover for the game? The Philadelphia Eagles' Saquon Barkley is set to grace the cover of the 2026 edition, EA Sports, the maker of the game, announced, joining a long line of Madden cover athletes. The image of Barkley will be of his famous backwards hurdle from last season. Madden started putting athletes on the cover in 2001, with Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George getting the honor on the Madden NFL 2001 cover. This will be the second straight version of the game with a running back on the cover after the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey was on the cover of Madden NFL 2025. 2001: Eddie George, RB, Tennessee Titans 2002: Daunte Culpepper, QB, Minnesota Vikings 2003: Marshall Faulk, RB, St. Louis Rams 2004: Michael Vick, QB, Atlanta Falcons 2005: Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore Ravens 2006: Donovan McNabb, QB, Philadelphia Eagles 2007: Shaun Alexander, RB, Seattle Seahawks 2008: Vince Young, QB, Tennessee Titans 2009: Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay Packers 2010: Troy Polamalu, S, Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals 2011: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints 2012: Peyton Hillis, RB, Cleveland Browns 2013: Calvin Johnson, WR, Detroit Lions 2014: Barry Sanders, RB, Detroit Lions 2014: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings 2015: Richard Sherman, CB, Seattle Seahawks 2016: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants 2017: Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots 2018: Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots 2019: Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers 2020: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs 2021: Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens 2022: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs and Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2023: John Madden, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach 2024: Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills 2025: Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers 2026: Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles The only Cardinals player to get on the cover while he was playing for Arizona was WR Larry Fitzgerald, who shared the cover with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu in 2010. Reach Jeremy Cluff at Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff. Support local journalism: Subscribe to today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Madden NFL game covers through the years: Saquon Barkley joins list
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Eddie George adds former Ohio State wide receiver to Bowling Green roster
A former Ohio State wide receiver has transferred to Bowling Green and will play for head coach Eddie George. After four years with the Buckeyes, Reis Stocksdale is heading to Northwest Ohio with one year of eligibility left. If there is one place that OSU has depth, it is at the wide receiver position. Brian Hartline has stockpiled quite a collection of four and five-star receivers, leaving little room for playing time for walk-ons. Heck, Ohio State has so much talent in the receivers' room that some of the former four and five-star recruits have had a hard time finding the field. So, with one year left and a degree in hand, Stocksdale has chosen to go to a place where he might be able to contribute. Advertisement During his career in Scarlet and Gray, Stocksdale recorded one catch for 12 yards all the way back in 2022. He'll hope to see more action as a redshirt senior who has had the opportunity to be coached by and practice against some of the best talent in the country. George, the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner, will be in year No. 1 with the Falcons after spending the past four seasons as the head coach at Tennessee State. He compiled a record of 24-22 with the Tigers and was named the Big South OVC Coach of the Year in 2024. Stocksdale gets to be coached by yet another OSU legend and will look to make an immediate impact with BGSU. This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Former Ohio State receiver set to join Eddie George at Bowling Green
