Russell Lamar White (born December 15, 1970) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) for a single season in 1993. White 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 ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, and was recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, he played professionally for the NFL's

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Early years

White was born in Pacoima, California.National Football League, Historical Players
Russell White
Retrieved February 25, 2012. He graduated from

Crespi Carmelite High School Crespi Carmelite High School, shortly known as Crespi, is a private Catholic all-male four-year college preparatory high school located in Encino District, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The ...

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Russell White
. Retrieved February 25, 2012. where he played for the Crespi Carmelite Celts

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. As a sophomore tailback in 1986, he led the team to a state championship, rushing for 256 yards in the championship game. Slowed by injuries as a senior in 1988, he still gained 1,379 yards on the ground, caught 43 passes for 529 yards, scored 25 touchdowns, and was named to California Football's all-state team. Crespi's White Tops Valley Picks for Shrine Game
" ''Los Angeles Times'' (January 19, 1989). Retrieved February 25, 2012. He completed his three high school seasons with 5,998 rushing yards, 94 touchdowns and 568 points—all California state high school records. In 1986 and again in 1987, he was recognized as a high school All-American by ''USA Today'' and ''Scholastic Coach'', and was also a two-time Cal Hi Sports California High School Football Player of the Year.

College career

White received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he played for the Golden Bears teams from 1990 through 1992.California Golden Bears, Traditions
University of California Hall of Fame
Retrieved February 25, 2012. He enrolled in 1989, but was ineligible to play as a freshman under the NCAA's Proposition 48 because he did not score high enough on the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...

college entrance exam. Subsequently, diagnosed as suffering from

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, he received tutoring and qualified academically to play in 1990. In the Bears' 1990 season opener against the Miami Hurricanes on September 15, the first time he ever touched the ball in a college game, he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.''2007 California Golden Bears Football Media Guide''
Records
University of California Athletic Department, Berkeley, California, pp. 127, 128, 129, 135, 136, 139, 141, 149 (2007). Retrieved February 25, 2012. As a junior in 1991, he rushed for 1,177 yards and 14 touchdowns, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from the Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Foundation. During his three-season college career, he amassed 3,367 yards and a 5.1 yards-per-carry average to become the Golden Bears' all-time rushing leader. He also scored 35 touchdowns on the ground—the most career rushing touchdowns in team history—and compiled fifteen games in which he rushed for 100 yards or more. White graduated from the university in 1993 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in social welfare, and was inducted into the University of California Hall of Fame in 2003.

Professional career

The

selected White in the third round of the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot Ma ...

,Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History
1992 National Football League Draft
Retrieved February 25, 2012. and he played for the Rams for a single season in .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players

Retrieved February 25, 2012. He appeared in five games for the Rams, primarily as a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. He later signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in , but played in no regular season games.

Post-playing career

White was the athletic director and head football coach at Desert Chapel High School in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

where he led the Eagles to back to back CIF Division titles in 2002 and 2003. White is now a teacher and was hired as the new head football coach at Castlemont High School in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

on April 30, 2010. White is currently the commissioner of the Oakland Section of CIF. He was announced to be the new head football coach for

Flintridge Preparatory School Flintridge Preparatory School, familiarly known as Flintridge Prep or simply Prep, is a coeducational day school for grades 7-12. Founded in 1933, it is located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Facilities School facilities inc ...

on March 18, 2016. White is the nephew of former University of Southern California running back and Heisman Trophy winner Charles White, and the cousin of former UCLA and San Francisco 49er defensive back and kick returner

Kermit Alexander Kermit Joseph Alexander (born January 4, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He was on the board of directors for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Russell 1970 births Living people All-American college football players American football running backs California Golden Bears football players Green Bay Packers players High school football coaches in California Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Los Angeles African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople