Ernie White was a

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played 6 seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for three teams. He was voted as an eastern conference all-star in 1962. Ernie White played college football at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

and, after playing rugby for the London Lords of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, joined the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1960, where he had only 3 carries. White blossomed as a member of the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

the following year, rushing for a 9.0 yard average on 30 carries on a backfield that included Dave Thelen and

Ron Stewart Ronald George Stewart (July 11, 1932 – March 17, 2012) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1973, as well as a coach. He spent the first half of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, ...

. White became an eastern conference all-star in 1962, rushing for 804 yards (5.9 yards per carry), along with 758 receiving yards (24.5 yards per catch), 429 yards in kick returns (26.8 yards per return), and 10

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Despite his 6.4 yards per rush average and 23.4 yards per catch, he had fewer than half as many carries the following year. He nevertheless led the east in kickoff return yards with 665 and a 35.0 yard per return average. He played only 5 games for Ottawa in 1964 and 5 more in 1965 for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

before retiring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Ernie 1938 births Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Ottawa Rough Riders players Montreal Alouettes players Canadian football running backs Living people