Titans legend Eddie George blasts Tennessee State fans for low attendance despite on-field success


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Eddie George has the Tennessee State football program on the right track. The Tigers are 4-2 and could improve to 5-2 with a win over Lincoln in Nissan Stadium on Saturday. The only issue is that not many fans have been there to witness the turnaround in person.

George, already a Nashville legend from his playing days with the Tennessee Titans, is imploring fans to come out and watch Tennessee State play this weekend against Lincoln. Thus far, the turnouts for home games have been underwhelming, and George wants to see more support for the players, who have made sacrifices to transform the Tigers into a winning team again.

“We have the chance to go to 5-2, we have the chance to have a winning record and a winning season and the people who are interested in watching us play will come out and support us and the people who aren’t then so be it,” George said, according to The Tennessean. “Some people may not agree with me being the hire here and that’s fine. I’m OK with that. But it’s not me that you’re not supporting; it’s these kids. These kids who get up at 4 o’clock in the morning and bust their tails to study, to practice and give the fans something to be excited about.”

Last week, Tennessee State won its homecoming game against Norfolk State in front of 13,395 fans in Nashville. That was much lower than last season’s homecoming attendance, per The Tennessean, and George called out those fans who were able to tailgate before kickoff but never made their way into the stadium.

“What I find interesting is that there was almost 30,000 fans outside of Nissan at homecoming while we were playing the game and a lot of them never came into the stadium,” George said. “Some people might not find football appealing. It might be more for the social atmosphere. I told my team we may be playing in front of empty bleachers the last three games.”

George took over TSU in 2021, and at the time, the program had struggled to put a winning product on the field. However, the team has taken notable strides forward in George’s third season on the job, and that ascension can continue with a win over Lincoln on Saturday afternoon.

Whether George’s message will resonate with the fans is unknown, but if attendance is poor again this weekend, he said the players will simply “play for each other.”


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