NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The sight shocked lots of Ohio State students. Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George, fresh from the Super Bowl, was walking across campus on his way to class.

Instead of spending the offseason partying and building on a fame boosted by his two-touchdown performance in the Super Bowl, George quietly headed back to college to finish his degree in landscape architecture.

No press releases, no fanfare, just a book bag.

"It's been pretty wild," George said. "It brought back a lot of memories."

George was "The Man" on campus at Ohio State in 1995, when he won the Heisman Trophy and the Doak Walker Award as the country's best running back. His performance made him a first-round draft pick by the then-Houston Oilers.

He has been busy as a pro. He was the NFL's offensive rookie of the year in 1996, and he is one of only four running backs to rush for at least 1,200 yards in each of their first four seasons.

Coming off the Super Bowl, George easily could have stayed busy making appearances, commercials or resting on an island. 

But he chose to go back to college and finish the remaining 20 hours toward his degree.

"I was just thinking to myself, `What am I doing with my time?' I wanted to do something more productive with it than what I was doing the last few years," George said.

"It was a real good opportunity to focus on working out and getting my schooling done and get my degree."

So George set up a class schedule at Ohio State that let him return frequently to Nashville for workouts at the Titans' practice facility, and one of his best friends let him stay with him while in Columbus.

Sitting in a classroom again for the first time in years wasn't easy - especially with the autograph requests from classmates and teachers.

"It was kind of weird being there again. But I was able to focus more and concentrate more on what they were saying. Just sitting there, it was cool," George said.

Fullback Lorenzo Neal went back to college after a couple of years in the NFL, and he remembers how hard it was going from being the center of attention to being a student again with no friends around.

George still has 10 hours left before he can graduate.  But he hopes to be able to graduate this summer or by next spring at the latest so that he can go through the actual ceremony.

"It gives me that opportunity to say, `Hey, I've got my degree. This is what I can do with it,"' George said.

"I'm opening options for myself after football."