Markus White (born November 25, 1987) is a former

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 with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the seventh round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. 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 ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

. Prior to playing for Florida State, he played one season at

Butler Community College Butler Community College (BCC) is a public community college in El Dorado, Kansas. Campus There are a number of branch campuses throughout the area, in Andover, Council Grove, Marion, McConnell, Rose Hill, and a number of distance-learning ...

where he received the NJCAA national player of the year.

High school career

A native of

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

, White attended

John I. Leonard High School John I. Leonard Community High School is a public high school located in Greenacres, Florida, United States. History The high school is named after John I. Leonard, who served as the first president of Palm Beach State College (then Palm Beach J ...

, where he was teammates with Kenrick Ellis. Regarded as a two-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', White was not ranked among the best defensive end prospects of his class. He had offers from

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

, before committing to

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. However, White did not manage to qualify academically, and transferred to

College career

, White became a nationally recognized defensive lineman. He set a school record with 24.5 sacks which led the nation, as did his six forced fumbles, and also amassed 97 tackles, of which 39 were behind the line of scrimmage. White was named the NJCAA national player of the year in his lone season at Butler, which went 12-0 and shared the national title after routing No. 1

Snow College Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is part ...

. Now a five-star junior college recruit, White received numerous offers before committing to Florida State. He begin his career with the Seminoles as back-up for

Everette Brown Everette D. Brown (born August 7, 1987) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the assistant linebackers coach for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida St ...

, before taking over as starter in 2009.

Professional career

Washington Redskins

White was drafted in seventh round of the

by the

. He was converted from a

to an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

along with fellow rookie

Ryan Kerrigan Patrick Ryan Kerrigan (born August 16, 1988) is an American football coach and former outside linebacker and defensive end who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played c ...

. He was made the third-string left outside linebacker behind fellow rookie

and

Lorenzo Alexander Lorenzo John Alexander (born May 31, 1983) is a American football linebacker who played in the NFL for 15 seasons playing a majority with the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the University of California, and was signed as an ...

. At the end of the 2011 season, White played a total of two games primarily on special teams. During the 2012 preseason, White suffered a fractured rib and bruised kidney at practice on August 16. He was released on August 31 for final roster cuts before the start of the 2012 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On September 3, 2012, White signed with the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Washington Redskins (second stint)

On September 18, 2012, White was claimed by the Redskins from the

of the

, after the season-ending injury of fellow linebacker

Brian Orakpo Brian Ndubisi Orakpo (born July 31, 1986) is a former American football outside linebacker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Texas, was recognized as a unanimous All-A ...

. He was released on October 9, 2012, to make room on the roster for

Mario Addison Mario Addison (born September 6, 1987) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at Troy. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2011. After being cut and spending time as a ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

White was re-signed to the Buccaneers' practice squad on October 11. He was signed to the active roster two days later. The Buccaneers released him on October 18. Two days later he was signed to the practice squad. On November 14, White was promoted to the active roster again to replace

Quincy Black Quincy Booker Black (born February 28, 1984), is a former American football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He attended the University of New Mexico. High school career Black attended Kenwood Academy High ...

, who was placed on injured reserve. He was waived on November 17 and signed to the practice squad for a fourth time. On December 22, once again White was promoted to the active roster after

Aaron Morgan Aaron Morgan (born December 30, 1988) is a former American football outside linebacker who played for four seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played coll ...

was placed on injured reserve. On August 26, 2013, he was waived by the Buccaneers.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

White signed a free agent contract with the Riders in May 2014. White re-signed with the Riders on February 16, 2016. He was released by the Roughriders during final cuts in June 2016.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bio

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Markus 1987 births Living people American football linebackers American football defensive ends Canadian football defensive linemen African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football Butler Grizzlies football players Florida State Seminoles football players Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players Washington Redskins players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people