Reggie White

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reggie White
Reggie White as a Green Bay Packer.
Date of birth	December 19, 1961
Place of birth	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Date of death	December 26, 2004 (age 43)
Place of death	Huntersville, NC
Position(s)	Defensive Tackle/End
College	Tennessee
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	13
Awards	1987 NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1998 NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1995 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1991 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1987 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1986 Pro Bowl MVP
Honors	NFL 1990s All-Decade Team NFL 1980s All-Decade Team All Time NFL Team NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team Eagles Honor Roll Green Bay Packers HOF
Retired #s	Green Bay Packers #92 Philadelphia Eagles #92 Tennessee Volunteers #92
Records	Green Bay Packers Career Sacks (68.5) Philadelphia Eagles Career Sacks (124)
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1984-1985 1985-1992 1993-1998 2000	Memphis Showboats Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers Carolina Panthers
College Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2006

Reginald Howard "Reggie" White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was a professional American football player. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and attended Howard School.

Nicknamed the "Minister of Defense", a dual reference to his football prowess and his Evangelical Christian ordination, White is one of the all-time leaders in sacks in NFL history.

He was married to the former Sara Copeland, with whom he had two children, Jeremy and Jecolia. It was discovered that he was related to college football player Kevin Rollins when he arrived at one of his games; Rollins went on to play for the Miami Dolphins but broke his hand playing in Amsterdam.

1 Career
2 Death
3 Controversy
4 Hall of Fame
5 External links

[edit] Career

[edit] College, USFL, and the Eagles

White played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he set school records for most sacks in a career, season and game, records he still holds.

After college, White signed with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL, with whom he played for two seasons, while racking up 23.5 sacks, 192 tackles and seven forced fumbles in 36 starts.

After the USFL folded, White moved to the NFL and went to the Philadelphia Eagles because they held his NFL rights. He played with the Eagles for eight seasons, picking up 124 sacks to become the Eagles' all-time sack leader. He also set a then Eagles regular-season record with 21 sacks in 1987. He also became the only player to ever accumulate 20 or more sacks in just 12 games. He also set an NFL regular-season record that season by averaging the most sacks per game, with an amazing 1.75 sacks per game. Over the course of his tenure with the Eagles Reggie actually accumulated more sacks than the number of games that he played.

[edit] Green Bay Packers

In 1993, White went to the Green Bay Packers, where he played for six seasons. While not quite as prolific as in his previous years, White still notched up another 68.5 sacks, to become the Packers' all-time leader in that category. He also helped the Packers to two Super Bowls, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXI. White was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1998.

[edit] Retirement and return to NFL

After the 1998 season, White announced his retirement, but in 1999 he spoke to God and was told to "fulfill his commitment", and thereafter signed with the Carolina Panthers for the 2000 season. However, his performance was below his par, and he managed just 15 tackles and 5.5 sacks. Following the season, White again retired.

[edit] Second retirement and life after retirement

At the time of his retirement, White was the NFL's all-time sacks leader with 198. He has since been surpassed by Bruce Smith who has 200. White also recorded 3 interceptions, which he returned for 79 yards, and recovered 19 fumbles, which he returned for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns. His 9 consecutive seasons (1985-1993) with at least 10 sacks remain an NFL record.

White was caught in the middle of the arson scares at predominantly African American churches during the mid-1990s. The Inner City Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, a church where White was an associate minister, was burned to the ground in 1996.

In White's last year of football, a friend reportedly gave White a teaching CD from Messianic teacher Monte Judah. Following his retirement, White began studying Torah and Torah-observant Messianic theology. White also studied Hebrew under Nehemia Gordon. In October of 2003, White was interviewed by Messianic teacher and televangelist Michael Rood, and he discussed his studies of Torah. The interview was broadcast on February 4 and 6, 2005, on the Sky Angel cable channel. Following White's death, the January 2005 edition of Messianic magazine Yavoh was dedicated to him as a "Messianic Believer."

[edit] Death

On the morning of December 26, 2004, White was rushed from his home in Cornelius, North Carolina to a nearby hospital in Huntersville, North Carolina, where he was pronounced dead. White had suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia most likely caused by the sarcoidosis he had lived with for years. [1] The Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that White most likely died from cardiac and pulmonary sarcoidosis. [2] It was also stated that sleep apnea, which White was known to suffer from[3] may have contributed to his death.[4] Sleep apnea is known to affect large, muscular individuals like White more often than people of an average size and build.

During the 2005 season, three teams retired White's number 92 jersey. During a halftime presentation at Lambeau Field on September 18, 2005, White became only the fifth Green Bay Packer to have his number retired by the franchise. The Packers also wore a helmet decal honoring White for the remaining games in the season. The University of Tennessee retired White's jersey at a halftime presentation on October 1, 2005 during their game against the University of Mississippi, the third such retirement in the modern era of football at the school; a commemorative sign was also unveiled in the south end of Neyland Stadium. Finally, on December 5, 2005, the Philadelphia Eagles retired his jersey in a halftime ceremony during the Eagles' Monday Night Football game with the Seattle Seahawks, who were coached by Mike Holmgren, White's former coach in Green Bay. He is the only player in NFL history to have his number retired by two different NFL teams.

[edit] Controversy

This section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!)
Any unsourced material that has been or is likely to be challenged may be removed at any time. This article has been tagged since February 2007.

White's retirement was not without controversy. He created a stir in March of 1998 with his comments before the Wisconsin state legislature that invoked positive racial stereotypes of Latinos, Asians, whites, blacks, and Native Americans, explaining that all were made in God's image. Consistent with his fundamentalist understanding of Biblical doctrine and his religious beliefs, he made remarks about gays and lesbians, and subsequently became an ally of organizations opposed to homosexuality, appearing in a newspaper advertising campaign to convince gays and lesbians that they could "cease" their homosexuality. Homosexual-rights organizations opposed his remarks but defended his right to speak out.^{[citation needed]} In addition, both the Green Bay Packers and the NFL objected to the ads, since White had appeared in his football uniform without the consent of the team or the league. Later versions of the ad removed the uniform.

Confusion arose after his death over media allegations that White had abandoned Christianity and was studying Judaism. This may have arisen because many consider Messianic theology to be a form of Judaism because it holds obedience to the Torah is an expression of one's faith, and it is frequently referred to as "Messianic Judaism."

[edit] Hall of Fame

Jeremy White Autobiography Cover

White was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 4, 2006. He was enshrined at a ceremony on August 5, 2006 in Canton, Ohio. White's widow, Sara White, delivered her late husband's acceptance speech at the ceremony. She was introduced by their son, Jeremy White, who also released the first copies of his autobiography, In His Shadow: Growing Up With Reggie White, during the Hall of Fame weekend in honor of his father. Jeremy thanked the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" in his introduction, echoing Reggie White's dedication to his faith. White is the first "Messianic" believer inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame^{[citation needed]}.

In 1999, he was ranked number 22 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranked player to have played for the Eagles and the third-ranking Packer behind Don Hutson and Ray Nitschke.