Since they were 8 years old, Jeff George has been throwing footballs to Lance Scheib. The quarterback-receiver combination set state records together at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis and connected for a season at Purdue before George transferred to Illinois.
Now the duo has collaborated on George’s NFL comeback, completed over the weekend when the Bears ended the veteran’s two-year exile from the league by agreeing to a deal that will be announced Monday.
Day after day for the last several months, George showed up in the weight room or on the track at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis, where Scheib is the head football coach.
Some days George would take a break to tutor Scheib’s quarterbacks or throw footballs to his old buddy, but every day he would break a sweat.
So it surprised nobody who has been working out with George, who’s down to 210 pounds, when the guy who has not been on an NFL roster for two years passed the Bears’ physical over the weekend.
“I’ve known Jeff a long time, and he’s in better shape now than he was when he came into the league in 1990,” Scheib said Sunday.
“He really committed to weightlifting. He asked me a while back if I thought his arm had lost anything, and I told him I thought it was more lively now than it was three or four years ago.”
George’s right arm certainly will be well-rested when he begins practicing Monday with the Bears, his seventh NFL team.
George, 36, has not worn an NFL uniform since the end of the 2002 season with the Seattle Seahawks and has not thrown a pass since Sept. 23, 2001, for the Washington Redskins. That’s an even longer layoff than Jonathan Quinn had coming into this season.
“I’ve been preparing for this opportunity, and I think I’ll adjust pretty quick,” George said.
That NFL teams have stayed away from George, a veteran with more than 27,000 passing yards, in favor of unproven backups such as Quinn involves perception as much as reality.
One NFC personnel executive acknowledged Sunday that “Jeff George’s reputation precedes him” and played a part in keeping the quarterback unemployed for the last two years.
The Bears had questions about George’s tendency to take a sack by holding the ball too long and his limited mobility but also talked to NFL types about his temperament.
Much of the basis for those concerns occurred early in George’s career during his tenure in Indianapolis and Atlanta, especially when George struggled with the pressure of playing in his hometown and developed a chip on his shoulder that took years to erode.
In the past, as well as in an interview this month, George has accepted responsibility for his role in those sticky situations.
A 36-day holdout with the Colts before the ’93 season and a sideline shouting match with Falcons coach June Jones in 1996 get the most credit for portraying George as the poster child for bad teammates. But his friends believe that image misrepresents the quarterback.
“I’m not justifying any of the stuff Jeff did, but is it fair to hold someone responsible at 34 for how they acted when they were 24?” Scheib said.
“You can question his sidearm delivery, say he’s not mobile, whatever. But don’t say he’s not a good person. He’s a family guy who still has the same friends he’s had since 7th grade. Chicago will find out if he gets a chance.”
The Bears did not guarantee George that he would get a chance to take a snap this season.
After resisting George’s overtures as recently as Friday morning, team officials reconsidered and saw little risk in adding George as insurance to soon-to-be-anointed starter Chad Hutchinson.
It should cost the Bears only about $250,000, the equivalent of five games’ pay on a one-year, $760,000 contract.
The biggest risk to the Bears, in fact, might be if George plays–and plays well–leaving general manager Jerry Angelo to answer tough questions about why he did not sign George two months ago.
George said he thinks he has gotten in good enough shape to play “four or five more seasons” but looks forward to making the defense better by running the scout team.
The suggestion that he could be a bad influence on the Bears’ young quarterbacks amuses George more than it annoys him.
“I’m not that way,” he said. “I’m just looking to play again and help a team develop a young kid at quarterback.
“I can’t wait.”
Scheib can vouch for that. He said he had never heard George sound more excited than when he called with the good news late Friday night.
“This hasn’t been easy on him,” Scheib said. “I asked him last summer if he thought it was time he started thinking of another career. He said, without hesitating, `My career’s not over yet.”‘
The George Chronicles
Indianapolis Colts
1990-93
How he left his mark: Won NFL Rookie of the Year Award while playing in his hometown, suggesting a future too good to be true for him and the franchise. It was.
Why he left town: A 36-day contract holdout in ’93 training camp created a rift for which many Hoosiers still have not forgiven George, and the Colts dealt him the next March.
Atlanta Falcons
1994-96
How he left his mark: Led Falcons to playoffs in ’95, their first appearance in four seasons, when he threw for 4,143 yards.
Why he left town: Sideline spat with coach June Jones soured public opinion, and Falcons did not stand in way when George wanted to sign with Raiders in February ’97.
Oakland Raiders
1997-98
How he left his mark: Threw for 3,917 yards and 29 TDs in first season in Oakland but missed half of ’98 with torn groin muscle.
Why he left town: When Jon Gruden took over as coach, he favored Rich Gannon over George and cut the veteran.
Minnesota Vikings
1999
How he left his mark: Took over for Randall Cunningham after Vikings started 3-4 and led team to 9-2 finish.
Why he left town: Dennis Green thought it was time to develop first-round pick Daunte Culpepper.
Washington Redskins
2000-01
How he left his mark: He didn’t, really, playing eight games in two seasons and getting cut the third week of ’01.
Why he left town: Marty Schottenheimer concluded George’s skills were not suited for the West Coast offense.
Seattle Seahawks
2002
How he left his mark: When George departed after spending a month on the roster as insurance after Trent Dilfer was injured, Matt Hasselbeck publicly commended George’s example.
Why he left town: The Seahawks had Dilfer and Hasselbeck returning, leaving no room for George.
— David Haugh
– – –
%%
GEORGE’S STATS
YR., TM G COMP ATT PCT YDS TD INT
`90, Ind. 13 181 334 54.2 2152 16 13
`91, Ind. 16 292 485 60.2 2910 10 12
`92, Ind. 10 167 306 54.6 1963 7 15
`93, Ind. 13 234 407 57.5 2526 8 6
`94, Atl. 16 322 524 61.5 3734 23 18
`95, Atl. 16 336 557 60.3 4143 24 11
`96, Atl. 3 56 99 56.6 698 3 3
`97, Oak. 16 290 521 55.7 3917 29 9
`98, Oak. 8 93 169 55.0 1186 4 5
`99, Min. 14 191 329 58.1 2816 23 12
`00, Was. 6 113 194 58.2 1389 7 6
`01, Was. 2 23 42 54.8 168 0 3
TOTALS 133 2298 3967 57.9 27602 154 113 %%
