Former NFL star Eddie George to take on Broadway as Billy Flynn in 'Chicago'

Former NFL star Eddie George is trading in his spikes for a pair of spats as he prepares to make his Broadway debut next year in the musical “Chicago.” 

The 42-year-old Heisman trophy winner will take on the role of lawyer Billy Flynn, the Broadway part originated by the great Jerry Orbach and famously played in the movie adaptation by Richard Gere.

.@NFL Legend & Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George will make his Broadway debut in the role of Billy Flynn. pic.twitter.com/7ML5pL4Yll

— Chicago The Musical (@ChicagoMusical) October 26, 2015

George, who won the Heisman in 1995 and went on to a nine-year career in the NFL, leading the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, will make his Broadway debut at the Ambassador Theatre beginning Jan. 11.

And putting the former running back on The Great White Way is not just some Hail Mary casting stunt.

George has shown some serious acting chops and has an impressive the on-stage resume since retiring from football. 

He's previously appeared in Matthew Lopez's The Whipping Man at the Nashville Repertory Theatre, Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog at Amun Ra Theatre, also in Nashville, and played both Othello and Julius Caesar at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival.

You can hear George sing All I Care About until Feb. 28.

Jameis Winston's alleged rape victim goes public about her 'ordeal' in documentary

The woman who accused Florida State University football star Jameis Winston of raping her has come forward for a new documentary that premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground (trailer at bottom) investigates sexual assault on campuses across the country and features Erica Kinsman —  the college coed who claims she was raped by 2013 Heisman Trophy winner.

In the film, the 20-year-old Kinsman describes her ordeal, allegedly at the hands of Winston, then a Florida State University freshman. She says she had been drinking and was admittedly woozy on that December 2012 night. Kinsman tearfully recalls a man buying her a shot at a local Tallahassee bar, then being in the back of a cab the next before being raped on the bathroom floor of an apartment, according to The Daily Beast.

Kinsman says she remembers coming to while the man on top of her, and claims that she asked him to stop. The man allegedly ignored both her and his roommate, who Kinsman says entered the room and told him to stop, before taking her into the bathroom.

“All these people were praising (Winston)… and calling me a slut, a whore,” Kinsman says in the film.

The 21-year-old Winston was never charged and Florida State cleared him of the accusations at a student code of conduct hearing in December.

Could Marcus Mariota's thanks to Eagles Chip Kelly lead to a reunion in Philly? (VIDE)

Marcus Mariota became the first Oregon player to earn the Heisman Trophy and the first Hawaii native to take home the coveted prize. After receiving the 25-pound trophy, Mariota gave an emotional speech, thanking his family, his teammates and home state.

During the tearful speech Saturday night, the soft-spoken quarterback — who beat out Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper and Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon — also thanked his coaches including Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly.

"Coach (Mark) Helfrich, coach (Scott) Frost, and coach (Chip) Kelly," Mariota said,"thank you for the opportunity. You took a chance on me, and I am truly grateful."

That shout-out — or whisper-out, if you please — has already started speculation that the Eagles might try to move up to get him in the 2015 NFL Draft.

The link between Kelly and Mariota, who were together for one full season during their days at Oregon, has Eagles fans dreaming of the perfect replacement of Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez in running Kelly's offensive attack. 

And, earlier this week,  Kelly took time out from preparing for Sunday night's showdown with the Cowboys to heap plenty of praise on his former player and stoke the fire.

"He has a gift for playing football," Kelly said of Mariota. "He is everything you could want. He can throw the ball, he can run. He is the most talented kid I coached in college."

Could next year's most prized player in the NFL Draft go from being a Duck to an Eagle? It's a long shot — but one worth thinking about.

Here's Mariota's acceptance speech:

Johnny Manziel shows off Heisman and model girlfriend

Johnny Manziel has been making the most of his little jaunt to Manhattan after becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday.

The grinning Texas A&M quarterback picked up his big prize after leading his team to a 10-2 record and a Cotton Bowl appearance next month.  The mobile QB first appeared on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and showed he had a sense of humor by giving the Top Ten List.

Not to be outdone by Johnny Football, Manziel's model girlfriend, Sarah Savage, posted her own photos of the couple and the Heisman on the photo-sharing site Instagram.

The A&M co-ed posted shots of the happy couple alone with the trophy, checking out the tree in Rockefeller Center and strolling around Central Park — highlighting what must have been a whirlwind weekend.

The smiling Savage is represented by the Julie Freeman agency.  And as long as she's holding the the most famous trophy in college sports, the aspiring model can count on even more camera flashes to follow.

Nothing is more romantic than New York City during the holidays and it's even better when you've got  the Heisman in one hand and a slinky model in the other.

Way to go Johnny Football.

Mike Francesa misses Heisman vote, says he was confused by Army-Navy game

Mike Francesa has denied nodding off during his radio broadcasts a couple of different times— sorry Mike we have the videos to prove it — but for once, the the afternoon sports radio jockey admitted he had his eyes closed when it came to casting his vote for this year's Heisman.

The WFAN host confirmed during his show that he missed the deadline for this year's Heisman vote because the Army-Navy game is being played at a later date this year.

 "I did something this year, folks, that I have never done before in my life.  I actually messed up the Heisman date and didn't get my vote in," Francesa said.  "What screwed me up was, I usually know it's [the deadline] the Monday after the Army-Navy game; the Army-Navy game this week is later.

"They backed the Army-Navy game up this year, so I said, 'Oh, I can't have it the same day as the Army-Navy game,' so that's when I realized I was in trouble."


Actually, this is the fourth straight year Army-Navy has been played the same day as the Heisman ceremony.

Francesa, who claims he's been voting for the annual award for thirty years, said he was confused by the uncharacteristically late game this year.  It sounds like he uses the match up as his Heisman alarm clock and it just didn't go off yet.

The ballot was due a few days ago.

Lately, Francesa had been talking pretty highly of the season Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel had over the other candidates — Kansas State QB Collin Klein and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.  Manziel is the odds-on favorite and would be the first freshman to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

If Manziel loses by a single vote, Johnny Football might want to make a call to the show.  Only problem, he still wouldn't get a word in.