From football to Broadway, Eddie George knows a good play
NEW YORK CITY -- While former football star Eddie George is no stranger to the spotlight, it is a very different stage than where he first made his name 21 years ago.
He won the Heisman trophy before a 9-year all-pro career in the NFL.
"I didn't come to this Earth just to say, 'I played football for nine years. I won a Heisman trophy.' And die."
He caught the theater bug as his football career wound down and started from the ground-up.
"Footwork is nice, man. I got good feet," George said of his dancing skills. He took drama classes, voice lessons, and Shakespeare in his hometown of Nashville before auditioning for Broadway.
"What was important for me was that the ensemble didn't look at me as a gimmick -- this is some guy athlete that wants to do Broadway," George said. "No vanity projects here."
Bianca Marroquin played Roxie Hart to George's Billy Flynn. She says George is a legitimate performer, not just a name to get people into the seats.
"I was not expecting what Eddie brought to the stage," she said.
"If you trust and go through the process, and show up every day with the intention to get better and better, and be humble, things will just start to unfold like you could never imagine," George told CBS News.
He could be talking football or Broadway, but either way Eddie George knows the secret behind a "great play."