He sensed that even if the Titans chose to keep him on the roster, the team was going to limit his opportunities. George, however, didn’t like what he saw in the crystal ball. Who knows? Eddie is the kind of guy who would have been a backup safety or covered kicks. “Maybe he would have been our third-down guy or maybe our first- and second-down guy. But Fisher is confident George would have found ways to contribute nonetheless. Jeff Fisher, the Titans’ coach at the time, acknowledged George would have had a reduced role in the offense had he remained in Tennessee. But for me, it was just more, ‘How can I be protected financially if (Brown) just blows it up in the preseason and becomes the full-time starter?’ So now I’m expendable, and I could have been released at that time with no real opportunity. “It was going to be more of a dual-back thing, which was fine by me. “I think the transition was coming into play where they were priming (Brown) to be the starting running back that season,” George said. There was even the chance the Titans might cut George, who was approaching his 31st birthday. There was plenty of speculation the Titans were planning to move Brown ahead of George in 2004, leaving George - who’d totaled more than 300 carries in each of his eight seasons - with a more limited role. But it wasn’t quite that simple: George hadn’t averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry in any of his previous three seasons, and the Titans were also excited about young running back Chris Brown, who’d flashed some potential in limited time during the 2003 season. It seems at first like a strange request, considering George and quarterback Steve McNair were the faces of the franchise and that George - the NFL’s 1996 rookie of the year - had averaged over 1,250 rushing yards in his first eight seasons. That’s why they eventually approached George and asked him to renegotiate the six-year, $41.25 million contract extension he’d signed in 2000, a deal that would have paid him $4.25 million in 2004. Still, the Titans found themselves needing to clear more room under the salary cap. One star of the 2003 team, defensive end Jevon Kearse, moved on to Philadelphia that offseason while another, tight end Frank Wycheck, left the game for good. But the cost of keeping the 1999 Super Bowl core together for several years - and the age of some of those players - was starting to take its toll on the Titans. The 2003 Titans were one of the NFL’s best teams, posting a 12-4 regular-season record and beating Baltimore in a wild-card game before falling to New England in the divisional round. That’s kind of how I look at it.” ‘So now I’m expendable’ That opportunity never presented itself because the opportunity wasn’t there for me. I could have waited it out, could have gotten healthier, could have sat down a bit, played the back-up role, got my sea legs back underneath me again. “In hindsight looking back … my name was more valuable here than anyplace else. “I often wonder what life would have been like had I stayed. “I don’t necessarily regret the decision,” George told The Athletic. Would it at least have allowed him to step away from the game in a more fitting fashion, the recipient of a final farewell in Music City? Had he made the choice to take a pay cut and stay with the Titans - where he’d topped 1,000 yards in seven of his eight seasons - would his career have lasted longer than one more season, giving him a better chance at a bronze bust in Canton, Ohio? So it’s easy to ask the question: Would George make a different decision today if given the opportunity for a do-over? Who knows what difference another 1,000 yards or so might have made in his case for football immortality? Years later, George finds himself facing an uphill climb as he seeks entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a destination that has opened its doors for many of his peers - players such as Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. He never played another down following that season, making his retirement official in 2006. It was not a storybook ending: George started just eight games in 2004 and averaged 33 rushing yards per contest. He opted for the latter, requesting his release from the Titans and signing with the Dallas Cowboys just two days later.
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