LenDale White
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| LenDale White | |
|---|---|
 LenDale White scoring against California in 2005 |
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| Date of birth | December 20, 1984 |
| Place of birth | Denver, Colorado |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | USC |
| NFL Draft | 2006 / Round 2/ Pick 45 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 2006-present | Tennessee Titans |
LenDale White (born December 20, 1984) is an American football running back who plays for the Tennessee Titans. He played for Norm Chow at USC, who is now the Titans' offensive coordinator. His head coach in Tennessee, Jeff Fisher, also played for the USC Trojans.
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[edit] High school career
White played the 1999 and 2000 seasons at Denver (Colo.) South High, where he made the Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first team in 2000 and the Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first team both years. White then enrolled at Chatfield High School in Littleton, Colorado. As a junior in 2001, he earned Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first team and Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first team notice. He rushed for 1,850 yards with 30 TDs, plus had 185 receiving yards with 2 TDs in 2001. Chatfield went 14-0 in 2001 and was the Class 5A champion. His coach at Chatfield was Dave Logan, the former Colorado All-American wide receiver who played in the NFL.
His 2002 honors included Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Tom Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Midlands, Prep Star All-Midlands, Tom Lemming All-Midland, Orange County Register Fab 15 second team, Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year, Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first team and Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first team as a senior tailback at Chatfield High in Littleton (Colo.). He ran for 1,683 yards and 21 TDs in 2002.
He finished his career (he started all 4 years) as Colorado's career rushing leader, with 7,803 yards.
[edit] College career
White shared his playing time at tailback with Reggie Bush at the University of Southern California. Despite being the lesser known member of the Trojan backfield, White was a standout rusher who actually led the team in rushing in his first two seasons and was a 2005 All-America selection. White also rushed for three touchdowns against Oklahoma in the national championship and three touchdowns as well against Texas in the Rose Bowl. Despite the fatal stop that was followed by Texas' perhaps inevitable run to their title, White was one of the better running backs in college football who looks to continue his string of successes in the NFL. While Bush is an elusive back with a plethora of moves and astonishing speed, White is considered more of a power back who prefers to run over his defenders. This combination gave USC one of the most talented rushing tandems in NCAA history. White is being mentored by his cousin, Detroit Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups.
White showed his comedic skills in 2005 when he conspired with Trojan coach Pete Carroll and movie director and Trojan fan Spike Lee to play a Halloween prank on his teammates. White pretended to be upset with his coach over the lack of carries he was receiving during practice. He was subsequently kicked out of the practice and carted away from the field, while Carroll told the team to prepare to move on without White. As the team huddled to end practice, White stood on the roof of a building near the facility. White began shouting down at the field as his teammates looked on. He was soon joined on the rooftop by a team assistant, who began tassling with White. The assistant wrestled White to the ground out of the team's view, and, next thing the team knew, there was an object in a red #21 jersey thrown from the top of the building. Everyone watched in horror until they realized it was a dummy dressed in White's jersey.
[edit] NFL Draft
White's draft stock tumbled before and during the draft, mostly because he had not had a full workout before NFL scouts. During USC's workout day, he cited hamstring worries as a reason for not running or performing any workouts aside from the benchpress. On draft day, he also mentioned that he weighed as much as 252 pounds at the Rose Bowl, but despite that, he managed to rush for three touchdowns. It has since been confirmed that he has a torn hamstring, but surgery will probably not be required to mend it. His injury is, however, predicted to keep him off of the football field until May. One reporter said that White "needed a bra" during the workout.[citation needed]
Before the draft there were rumors of him failing a drug test; however, he was not listed on the official NFL list of test fails and most analysts seemed to doubt the rumors.
NFL Network analysts had stated that White could slip into the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. White was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round with overall pick number 45. Interestingly enough, he will be playing with the quarterback against whom he played in the 2006 Championship Rose Bowl Game, Vince Young, drafted by the Titans as their 2006 first round selection.
[edit] NFL Career
On August 10th, during a Titans' practice, White was involved in a brief scuffle with one of his teammates. During the scuffle White allegedly spit in the face of safety Donnie Nickey, leading to a few tense moments in which several other players took out aggression on White.
