Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" George (born December 8, 1967) is a former
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
. He was the first overall pick of the
1990 NFL DraftThe 1990 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22-23, 1990...
by the
Indianapolis ColtsThe Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
. George played for the
Atlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are an American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently a member of the NFC South division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team...
,
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
,
Minnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional football team based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . Prior to divisional realignment in 2002, they had been a member of the Central Division, also...
,
Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...
,
Seattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington, USA. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the NFL in 1976 as...
and
Chicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the NFC North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Early life
George was born in
IndianapolisIndianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. The United States Census estimated the city's population, excluding the included towns, at 798,382 in 2008...
,
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
. He attended
Warren Central High SchoolWarren Central High School is a public high school in Warren Township on the east side of Indianapolis. It has an enrollment of around 4,000...
, where he was awarded the
Dial AwardFor the literary award presented by The Dial magazine in the 1920s, see The Dial.The Dial Award was presented annually by the Dial Corporation to the male and female American high-school athlete/scholar of the year.-Awardees:...
for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1985 and was the first Gatorade National Player of the Year. Collegiately, he attended
Purdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six campuses within the Purdue University System...
and the
University of IllinoisThe University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
.
College career
George transferred after a year at
Purdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six campuses within the Purdue University System...
because the coach who recruited him,
Leon BurtnettLeon Burtnett is an assistant football coach at the University of Houston, and was a head football coach at Purdue University from 1982 to 1986.Burtnett won the Big 10 coach of the year award in 1984, leading the Boliers to the Peach Bowl...
, was fired. Burtnett's replacement was
Fred AkersFred Akers is a former American football coach. He served as head football coach of The University of Texas Longhorns from 1977 to 1986....
, who had been known for his teams that used an option type offense that was not to George's liking. He subsequently committed to the
University of MiamiThe University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 in the city of Coral Gables, Florida within Miami-Dade County...
, but he backed out when coach
Jimmy JohnsonJames William "Jimmy" Johnson is a former American football coach who currently appears on Fox NFL Sunday, the Fox network's NFL pregame show. He was the first football coach whose teams won both an NCAA Division 1A National Championship and a Super Bowl. In 1993, Johnson wrote Turning The Thing...
would not guarantee him a starting job at the QB-rich school. The schoolboy legend from Indianapolis ended up leaving the home-state school and became a
Fighting IlliniThe Fighting Illini are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports....
. He stayed at Illinois for two years, leaving with a year of eligibility remaining after being assured he would be drafted in the first five picks of the NFL draft (he was picked #1).
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts traded to draft George, making him the first pick in the
1990 draftThe 1990 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22-23, 1990...
, and then rewarded him with the richest rookie contract in NFL history. What should have been a dream career with his hometown Colts turned ugly almost from the start. By the time it ended after four seasons with a trade to the
Atlanta FalconsThe Atlanta Falcons are an American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are currently a member of the NFC South division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965 as an expansion team...
, he had made vile gestures to the hometown fans, argued with coach
Ted MarchibrodaTheodore "Ted" Joseph Marchibroda is a former American football quarterback and head coach in the National Football League.-Player:...
, held out for 36 days, and tried to get a trade.
Atlanta Falcons
After four seasons with Indianapolis, the team that drafted him as their quarterback of the future, George was shipped to the Falcons, where he enjoyed a measure of success as the ringleader of their run & shoot-themed offense. In
1995The 1995 NFL season was the 76th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 30 teams with the addition of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars...
, he led the Falcons to their first playoff appearance since
1991The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills.-Major rule changes:...
. On September 22, 1996, in a game against the
Philadelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, George got into a heated argument on the sidelines with then-Falcons coach
June JonesJune Sheldon Jones, III is an American football coach, formerly with the Atlanta Falcons and the University of Hawaii...
, all of which was caught on camera for a national television audience. Jones suspended George for the remainder of the
1996 seasonThe 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end...
. After the year, Atlanta dealt George to the
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. In later years after the incident, Jones actually became an advocate for George stating that the TV argument was overblown and George was actually a good quarterback, a team player, and worthy of being on an NFL roster.
Oakland Raiders
George looked like a perfect fit with the Raiders, who have always loved vertical passing in the
Al DavisAllen "Al" Davis is an American football executive, who currently serves as the principal owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.-Early life:Davis was born in Brockton, Massachusetts...
era, and whose fans seem to embrace players who have long since worn out their welcome in other NFL cities. And George did fit in, for a while: in
1997The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League. The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee...
, George tied for the NFL lead with 29 touchdown passes, compared to only 9 interceptions, plus a lofty 91.2
passer ratingPasser rating is a measure of the performance of quarterbacks or any other passers in American football and Canadian football. There are at least two formulae currently in use: one officially used by the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, and one used in college football...
. The team, however, struggled to a 4-12 season. The next year, the offense had changed to head coach
Jon GrudenJon David Gruden is a former American football head coach, most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. Prior to taking over as coach of Tampa Bay, he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for 4 years...
's
West CoastIn American football, "West Coast Offense" is one of two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play: the "Air Coryell" system; or more commonly the pass play system popularized by Bill Walsh...
scheme, a controlled-pass approach, that did not suit George's strengths. George was inconsistent at the beginning of the year, and later struggled with a groin pull, telling a local radio audience that he was finished for the year, which was news to the team. He also ignored the Offensive Coordinator's play calls during the 1998 season and ran his own plays through a wristband containing plays. The Raiders then ended George's Oakland tenure when they signed free-agent quarterback
Rich GannonRichard Joseph Gannon is a former football quarterback, who achieved most of his success late in his career with the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League...
.
Minnesota Vikings
Next, George went to the
VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional football team based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . Prior to divisional realignment in 2002, they had been a member of the Central Division, also...
, where he would sit behind incumbent QB
Randall CunninghamRandall W. Cunningham is a former American football quarterback.After playing college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he was selected in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he remained through the 1995 season...
, who was coming off a fantastic
1998The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
season. Cunningham, however, struggled at the start of the
1999The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season...
season and was benched. Out of the wings stepped George, who in 10 games as a starter went 8-2 and put up excellent numbers (23 touchdowns, 8.6 yards per attempt, a 94.2 rating) in leading Minnesota to the playoffs. George won his first career playoff game, throwing three touchdown passes to lead the Vikings over the Dallas Cowboys 27-10. The Vikings lost the next week to the eventual
Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
Champion
RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team has won three NFL Championships, including one Super Bowl.The Rams began...
49-37. The Vikings chose not to renew George's contract after the season, and George ended up signing a lucrative contract with
WashingtonThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...
.
Washington Redskins
George had hopes of either returning to Minnesota as starter or signing with another team as their starting quarterback, but he waited too long to make a decision prior to the
2000The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants.Week 1 of the season reverted to Labor Day weekend in 2000...
season, and as a result had to settle for being
Brad JohnsonJames Bradley Johnson is a free agent quarterback in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the ninth round of the 1992 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State....
's backup with the
Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...
. Johnson went down in week 9; George replaced him, and went 1-2 in the next three games, though one of the losses came down to a missed Redskins field goal attempt. Johnson returned, but played poorly against the New York Giants. George replaced him, and led the Redskins back into the game, but again a missed field goal attempt cost the Redskins a chance to win. George started two games, both losses, after
Norv TurnerNorval Eugene Turner is the head coach for the National Football League's San Diego Chargers. He also has served as head coach of the Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders, and as offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers...
was fired in favor of interim coach
Terry RobiskieTerry Robiskie is a former American football player and current wide receivers coach for the Atlanta Falcons.-Playing career:...
. After the season, Johnson departed Washington for
Tampa BayThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are aprofessional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team, along with the Seattle Seahawks, joined the NFL in as expansion teams...
, leaving George as the Redskins' starter going into
2001The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...
.
Before the 2001 season, Washington hired
Marty SchottenheimerMartin Edward "Marty" Schottenheimer is a former American football coach. Over his career, he has served as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and San Diego Chargers...
as head coach, and Schottenheimer promised to install a West-Coast scheme similar to that of Jon Gruden in Oakland. George clashed with Schottenheimer over the offense, though Schottenheimer promised to work George through any problems he might have with the scheme. That uneasy agreement lasted exactly 2 weeks into the regular season, when Washington released George on the heels of a 37-0
Monday NightMonday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...
loss to the
Green Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League and are the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.The Packers are the last vestige of "small town...
. After the game, George had a 34.6 passer rating, ranking last in the NFL, and the Redskins were 0-2, having been outscored by opponents 67-3. The Redskins continued to struggle offensively through 2001. The team finished 29th (out of 31) in scoring, and 31st in passing yards per game.
Seattle Seahawks
George seemingly retired after his last game in Washington, but he proceeded to make several sideline appearances in the following years. He signed briefly with the
Seattle SeahawksThe Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington, USA. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, joined the NFL in 1976 as...
in late
2002The 2002 season of the National Football League was the 83rd one played by the major professional American football league in the United States. The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. The clubs were then realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each...
as an emergency quarterback but never saw any playing time.
Chicago Bears
In
2004The 2004 season of the National Football League was the 85th season for the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...
, after two years away from the game, the
Chicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the NFC North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
became the seventh NFL team to employ George, signing him to a one-year contract in November for a partial season backup role; but again he never took the field during a game, and he wasn't retained by the Bears for the
2005The 2005 season of the National Football League was the 86th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
season, and was not signed by any team. The
Detroit LionsThe Detroit Lions are an American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in downtown Detroit....
worked him out during their bye week in the event they needed another quarterback. However, George was not offered a contract.
Back with the Oakland Raiders
On August 28, 2006, the
Oakland RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team in the NFL based in the city of Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
signed George. He was expected to compete for the third-string quarterback position. However, he was released by Oakland just five days later, on September 2, 2006.
While George has spent time on active NFL rosters the past several years, he has not attempted a pass since the 2001 season with the Washington Redskins. It was speculated that he might have replaced third string quarterback
Marques TuiasosopoMarques Tavita Tuiasosopo is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington.Tuiasosopo had also been signed to the New York...
due to his friendship with
Randy MossRandall Gene Moss is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings 21st overall in the 1998 NFL Draft...
. Moss has previously stated that George was his favorite of all the quarterbacks he's worked with. He has also commented in the past that he and George would take weekend fishing trips together when they both lived in Minnesota.
2007/2008
On October 30, 2007 during
Mike and Mike in the MorningMike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast in television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN2 is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show, the show's simulcast will then end up on ESPNews...
,
Michael KimMichael Kim , is an update anchor on ESPNEWS flagship program The Hot List, and also contributes to ESPN's flagship program SportsCenter. -School:...
in a
SportsCenterSportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally airing once per day, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
update reported that George was interested in making another comeback, this time with the Minnesota Vikings, a team where he once had some success. Unfortunately Vikings head coach
Brad ChildressBrad Childress is the 7th and current head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, a professional American football team. He attended High School at Marmion Military Academy...
literally laughed out loud at the notion of the 39 year old quarterback returning to the team, all talk of a return have for the time being been put on hold.
George appears increasingly desperate to stake a claim of relevance in the NFL; 10 days later—November 3—George appeared on ESPN's "The Michael Irvin Show" stating he was interested in being a backup to then-injured Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo... repeatedly stating "this is not a joke... I'm your guy."
In November 2008, in an appearance on Sirius NFL Radio, George said, "I find it hard to believe there isn't a place in the game for me. My arm feels like I'm 25," he said. "I'm not asking to be a starter, I just want a spot on a team. I still hold out hope I can play in this league. I'm working out three or four days a week, staying ready. Some people might laugh about it. I've been hearing the excuse, 'You're too old,' but I look at guys now playing near 40, and if you can throw it like I can throw it ... Why wouldn't you take a look at me?"
He also appears in
John FeinsteinJohn Feinstein is an American sportswriter and sports commentator who is particularly known for his insistence that players accused in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case were guilty even after the case deteriorated...
's book, Cover Up.
Possible comeback
Starting at the end of the 2008 season, George is still trying to make a return to the NFL. He said of coming back: “I’ve been trying to figure out how to get back in, and it just amazes me that I’m not on somebody’s roster. I’ve been throwing two or three times a week, and every time I go out there to throw, I can’t believe I’m not a backup somewhere. I know it’s a young man’s game, but you can’t tell me I’m not better than some of the quarterbacks that are out there. I look at teams like Minnesota or Chicago, and I want to scream at the people in charge, ‘What are you thinking?’ ”
Media
George has made occasional appearances on
NFL Total AccessNFL Total Access is a television news program on the NFL Network.The network treats it as the league's "show of record" and bills it as the only year-round show dedicated to the National Football League, despite the ESPN show NFL Live running year round as well.NFL Total Access is primarily hosted...
with
Rich EisenRich Eisen is an American television journalist who works for the NFL Network. He is married to ESPN on ABC college football sideline reporter Suzy Shuster...
and
Terrell DavisTerrell Lamar Davis is a former American football running back who played for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League from 1995 to 2001. Davis was drafted by the Broncos in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Davis is the Denver Broncos all-time leading rusher, with 7,607 rushing...
.
For years since George's most recent seasons in the NFL,
Jason WhitlockJason Lee Whitlock is a sportswriter for The Kansas City Star, Foxsports.com, as well as a former AOL Sports writer, contibutor to ESPN, and radio personality for WHB and KCSP sports stations in the Kansas City area.-College and sports:Whitlock was an all-state offensive tackle at Warren Central...
has written several columns expressing his belief that George could still play and was deserving of an NFL try-out. George and Whitlock are both longtime friends, having both played high school football together.
External links
- Jeff George career stats - at ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 360, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...