John White IV (born April 7, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

who is currently a

free agent 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 i ...

. He most recently played for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the CFL East Division, East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based i ...

of 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 c ...

(CFL). 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Los Angeles Harbor College Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) is a public community college in Wilmington, California. It is one of two community colleges serving the South Bay region of Los Angeles. LAHC serves mainly students from Harbor City, Carson, San Pedro, Ga ...

and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He attended South High School in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

Early years

White played lettered in football and track for the South High School Spartans of

. He was an all-conference, all-state and all-CIF selection. He recorded 1,850 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns in nine games as a senior in 2008.

College career

White played for the Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks of

from 2009 to 2010. He set school career records with 2,527 rushing yards, 34 rushing touchdowns, 41 total touchdowns, 248 points, 3,767 all-purpose yards and single-season records with 18 rushing touchdowns, 25 total touchdowns, 152 points and 2,056 all-purpose yards. He was also named Central West Conference Offensive Player of the Year. White played for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

of the

from 2011 to 2012. He finished his career as the first running back in Utah history to gain 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, one of two Utes all-time with two 1,000-yard seasons and the school's single-season rushing record holder with 1,519 yards in 2011. White was the MVP of the

2011 Sun Bowl The 2011 Hyundai Sun Bowl, the 78th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 31, 2011 at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. The game, which was telec ...

. He set his school's record for career rushing yards per game with 106.7 and career 100-yard games with 14. He ranked sixth in school history with 2,560 career rushing yards, fourth all-time in 534 career rushes and tied for fourth with 23 career rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Edmonton Eskimos

White signed with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

of the

on May 8, 2013. In his first season in the league White carried the ball 69 times for 260 yards, only averaging 3.8 yards per carry, with a lone rushing touchdown. He became a bigger part of the Eskimos rushing attack in 2014. White was named CFL Offensive Player of the Week for Week 14 of the

2014 CFL season Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unre ...

after recording 199 combined yards, including 192 rushing yards on 17 carries, a 36-yard touchdown run and a 10-yard touchdown catch in Edmonton's 24–0 victory over the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

on September 26, 2014. He finished the season with 123 carries for 852 yards (6.9 yards per carry) with 2 rushing touchdowns. White finished the season 3rd in the league in rushing yards, trailing only

Jon Cornish Jon Cornish (born November 5, 1984) is a former Canadian football running back who played nine seasons with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted 13th overall in the 2006 CFL Draft after playing college f ...

(CAL) and Anthony Allen (SSK). He also contributed 182 receiving yards on 17 catches, with 1 receiving touchdown. White was named Offensive Player of the Week for the Division Finals, in which the Eskimos were defeated by the Stampeders en route to the

102nd Grey Cup The 102nd Grey Cup was a Canadian football game played November 30, 2014, between the Canadian Football League West Division, West Division champion Calgary Stampeders and Canadian Football League East Division, East Division champion Hamilton Tig ...

Championship. Following the season White was awarded for this outstanding season by being named both a CFL West All-Star and a CFL All-Star. White was injured during practice on June 7, 2015. On June 8, the Edmonton Eskimos announced he would miss the

2015 CFL season The 2015 CFL season was the 62nd season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 58th Canadian Football League season. The Edmonton Eskimos won the 103rd Grey Cup on November 29, defeating the Ottawa Redblacks 26–20 in Winnipeg ...

due to a ruptured left

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

. Edmonton ended up winning the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

that year. As the Eskimos starting running back John White played the majority of the 2016 regular season (15 out of 18 games), missing only a few games with minor injuries. During the season, he carried the ball 164 times for 886 yards, and also caught 58 passes for 464 yards. scoring a total of 9 touchdowns. In the first round of the playoffs White set a franchise rushing record racking up 160 yards on the ground, surpassing the previous record of 152 set by

Normie Kwong Norman Lim Kwong (born Kwong Lim Yew; ; October 24, 1929 – September 3, 2016) was a Canadian football player who played for the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was also an active businessman ...

in 1958. White left the second game of the 2017 season with a leg injury. Following the game it was announced that he had torn his ACL, and would miss the remainder of the season: His second major leg injury in three years.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On the first day of training camp in 2018, White was released from Edmonton, with General Manager

Brock Sunderland Brock Sunderland (born November 11, 1979) was the General Manager of the Edmonton Elks (formerly known as the Edmonton Eskimos) in the Canadian Football League from 2017 until 2021. He won the Grey Cup as the Assistant General Manager of the Ottaw ...

refusing to comment. White was added to the practice roster for the Hamilton Tiiger-Cats following the conclusion of the preseason and spent the first 3 weeks there to learn the Hamilton playbook, while starter Alex Green was injured; reserve national backs Mercer Timmis and Sean Thomas Erlington filled in, with help from

Nikita Whitlock Nikita Nehemiah Whitlock (born May 16, 1991) is a former American football defensive tackle/running back hybrid player. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Whitlock has also been a member of the Dallas Cowb ...

who was temporarily converted from defensive lineman to carry the ball. White made his debut in week 4 against Saskatchewan, rushing twice for 9 yards. White would see more usage the next two games, before Green's return caused White to go back to the practice roster. White was called up again towards the end of the season, and produced a 19 carry 63 yard outing with one touchdown, as well as a 15 carry 108 yard effort in back to back games against the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

. White was inactive for the post season, but in his 7 regular season games produced a respectable 78 carries for 400 yards and two scores, as well as catching 8 passes for 51 yards.

BC Lions

On the first day of free agency in 2019, White was signed by his former Edmonton GM

Ed Hervey Edward Hervey (born May 4, 1973) is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver and currently an assistant general manager for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played in the CFL for the Edmonton Eskimos ...

to play for the

. This reunited Whte with quarterback Mike Reilly, who had signed from Edmonton earlier in the day. During 2019, White received consistent criticism for his pass blocking errors, but was a dynamo as a rusher, putting up the first 1,000 yard season of his career alongside 7 touchdowns. White missed two games with injury, but was otherwise durable by playing in 16 games, a career high. He also had the most carries in one season of his career, and produced a trio of games where he surpassed the 100 yard mark.

Toronto Argonauts

On February 9, 2021, White signed with the

. He played in 10 regular season games where he had 92 carries for 450 yards one touchdown. He became a free agent when his contract expired on February 8, 2022.

Statistics

References

External links

Just Sports StatsEdmonton Eskimos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, John 1991 births Living people African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football running backs Canadian football running backs Edmonton Elks players Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks football players Players of American football from Torrance, California Utah Utes football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players BC Lions players Toronto Argonauts players 21st-century African-American sportspeople