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I'm an Ohio State alum, so seeing this earlier today put a smile on my face.
He was a man on the football field in college, carrying the old pigskin; and he wasn't too shabby either when he got drafted and went on to play for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans. Won the Heisman in 1995 in college, NFL rookie of the year, and later, a 4-time Pro-bowl selection in the NFL.
And to top it all off, he was just one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet; intelligent, great work ethic, hard worker, etc.
So, I'd expect a similar kind of all-or-nothing approach to what he's made his current focus: acting!
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Denice Hicks of the Nashville Shakespeare Festival calls Eddie "a really strong actor — really, really strong... a charismatic stage presence. There is no other actor who could play Caesar the way he could."
And from audience member Sherry Lawler who isn't a football fan, but says "He reminds me of Yul Brenner in The King and I."
But this isn't some temporary distraction for Eddie; he's taking acting very seriously, embracing the challenge, and hopes to hone his skills on stage and eventually transfer them to film and TV.
I can definitely confirm that the guy really is one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet. I've met him on two occasions and he really was just super-nice. Despite being this gigantic, way-aggressive hulk on the football field, he's actually very soft-spoken and seems to always have a smile and a kind word for anyone he sees.
And the guy really is just gigantic. Officially, he's listed as 6'3" and 240 lbs, but meeting him in person, he certainly seems a whole lot bigger than that.
Anyway, I think it's interesting and also very cool that he's going off on a totally different track like this. He's not the first football player to transition onto the screen, of course, but he's taking this on as an acting career, rather than the O.J.-style recognizable goof who's basically just playing an extended cameo. It'll be interesting to see how far this goes.