Running Back,
Houston Oilers
Age: 23 (Sept. 24)
College: Ohio
State
Height: 6’3” Weight: 232
Prelude:
George won
the 1995 Heisman Trophy after a year in which he rushed for 1927 yards, gained
2344 yards from scrimmage overall, and scored 25 touchdowns. He was chosen by
the Oilers in the first round of the ’96 NFL draft (14th overall)
and moved directly into the starting lineup.
1996 Season Summary
Appeared in all
16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 335
[4]
Most
attempts, game - 28 (for 141 yds.) at NY Jets 12/1
Yards – 1368 [5]
Most yards,
game – 152 yards (on 26 carries) at Cincinnati 10/6
Average gain
– 4.1 [16]
TDs – 8 [10,
tied with four others]
100-yard
rushing games – 4
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 23
Most
receptions, game – 3 (for 22 yds.) at Cincinnati 10/6, (for 22 yds.) vs.
Pittsburgh 10/20, (for 34 yds.) vs. Miami 11/17, (for 32 yds.) vs. Cincinnati
12/15
Yards – 182
Most yards,
game - 34 (on 3 catches) vs. Miami 11/17
Average gain
– 7.9
TDs – 0
Scoring
TDs – 8
Points – 48
Awards & Honors:
NFL Rookie of
the Year: Sporting News
NFL Offensive
Rookie of the Year: AP, PFWA
2nd
team All-AFC: UPI
Oilers went 8-8
to finish fourth in the AFC Central.
Aftermath:
With the team
shifting to Tennessee in 1997, George rushed for 1399 yards and was selected to
the Pro Bowl for the first of four straight seasons. A power runner with
outstanding agility and speed enough for breakaway runs, he didn’t catch many
passes in his first two years but became more involved as a receiver out of the
backfield thereafter. George rushed for 1304 yards and caught 47 passes for 458
more as the team, now called the Titans, won the AFC title in 1999 and was a
consensus first-team All-NFL selection in 2000 as he achieved career highs with
1509 yards, on a league-leading 403 carries, and 50 catches. However, after
five years of never missing a game, foot surgery cut into his offseason
conditioning regimen and he had an off-year in 2001, running for 939 yards
while averaging just 3.0 yards per carry. While he came back to run for 1165
yards and score a total of 14 TDs in ’02, he was clearly in decline and, after
one more season with the Titans, moved on to the Dallas Cowboys for his last
year in 2004. Overall, George rushed for 10,441 yards (10,009 with the
Oilers/Titans) on 2865 carries (3.6 avg.) and caught 268 passes for 2227 yards,
scoring a total of 78 touchdowns.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie
of the Year in the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized
organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise
Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league
itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year).
