Robert Arlen White (born April 9, 1963) is a former American football

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

Early years

White attended Lunenburg High School, where he was a League All-star. He accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he was a four-year starter. Two seasons at

, one at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

and one at

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

. He was named a team captain and was a part of 2 conference titles in his last two years. As a senior, the offense featured

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Tom Ehrhardt, who led the nation in total offense, passing an average of 50 times a game, while scoring a total of 42

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. In 2011, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

New York Jets

White was selected by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the seventh round (189th overall) of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. He was waived on August 25.

Dallas Cowboys

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, he was signed by the

and later released on September 7. After the players went on a strike on the third week of the season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. White was re-signed to be a part of the Cowboys replacement team, that was given the mock name "Rhinestone Cowboys" by the media. He ended up playing well in those games as the starter at

, and was kept for the rest of the season playing mainly as a backup and on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, he suffered a thigh bruise in training camp that forced him to miss 4 contests. He started 3 games in place of an injured

Tom Rafferty Thomas Michael Rafferty (born August 2, 1954) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for head coach Joe Paterno at Penn State University. Early years ...

. The next year, he appeared in 8 games (4 starts).

New England Patriots

On March 23,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, he was signed in

Plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

. He was cut on September 3. He was re-signed on October 26 and released after 2 games on November 6. He was re-signed on November 8 and cut on after one game on November 12.

References

External links

Rhode Island bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Bob 1963 births Living people People from Lunenburg, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts American football centers Rhode Island Rams football players Dallas Cowboys players New England Patriots players National Football League replacement players Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts