LenDale White
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LenDale Anthony White (born December 20, 1984) 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 ...
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 ...
. He was drafted by the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
in the second round (45th overall) of the
2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...
. He has also been a member of the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
and
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. 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 Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
.


Early years

White attended South High School in Denver, Colorado. He played
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 ...
in 1999 and 2000, and he made the Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first-team in 2000 and the Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first-team both years. White then enrolled at Chatfield Senior High School in Littleton, Colorado. As a
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...
in 2001, he earned Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first-team and Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first-team notices. He rushed for 1,850 yards with 30 touchdowns and had 185 receiving yards with two touchdowns in 2001. Chatfield went 14-0 in 2001 and was the Class 5A champion. His coach at Chatfield was Dave Logan, the former Colorado All-American wide receiver who played in the NFL for the
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
and
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. White's 2002 honors included
Super Prep ''Super Prep'' is a sports magazine based in Laguna Beach, California, published in since 1985. It was founded and is published by Allen Wallace, a lawyer. Its main focus is to provide recruiting information on high school football players. In 19 ...
All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Tom Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Midlands, Prep Star All-Midlands, Tom Lemming All-Midland, Orange County Register Fab 15 second-team, Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year, Rocky Mountain News All-Colorado first-team and Rocky Mountain News Class 5A All-State first-team as a
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
tailback at Chatfield. He ran for 1,683 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2002. He played in the 2003 U.S. Army All-American Bowl with several of his future USC Trojan teammates. He finished his career (starting all four years) as Colorado's career high school rushing leader, with 7,804 yards.


College career

White shared his playing time at tailback with
Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...
at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. Despite being the lesser hyped member of the Trojan backfield, White was a standout rusher who led the team in rushing in his first two seasons and was a 2005
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
selection. White and Bush formed a "Thunder and Lightning" combination, with Bush playing the smaller but faster back while White was the bigger, stronger back. This combination gave USC a formidable backfield of rushers. Both combined for 3,042 rushing yards and 40 rushing touchdowns in 2005. On January 4, 2005, White rushed for three touchdowns in a 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the 2005 Orange Bowl game played at
Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I college ...
in
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. A year later, on January 4, 2006, White again rushed for three touchdowns in USC's 41-38 loss to Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl played at the Rose Bowl in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...
. He led the nation with 24 rushing touchdowns in 2005. In his three years, White set the USC career rushing touchdowns record of 52. He also finished with 3,159 yards and a 5.9 average per rush. After the Rose Bowl, White declared himself eligible for the
NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
.


College statistics


Professional career


2006 NFL draft

Promptly after declaring for the NFL draft, White's stock tumbled. White did not really go through a full workout before scouts at the
NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...
. Reportedly, there were audible groans when he bared his chest at a weigh-in. One scout was said to have laughed upon seeing White's bare chest.
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
's ''Fantasy Focus'' podcast referred to him as "Big Fat LenDale White." This also spawned another nickname: "LenWhale" White. As one NFL general manager said after seeing White at the combine: "The guy needed a bra, it was ridiculous. You come to the combine looking like that and you want to be a first-round pick? Come on. The guy had obviously been doing nothing." During USC's
pro day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
, he cited
hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...
worries as a reason for not running or performing any workouts aside from the
bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...
, where he managed only 15 repetitions at 225 pounds. An out of shape White did sustain a torn hamstring, but surgery was not required to mend it. His injury did, however, keep him off of the football field until May 2006. In April, White was drafted in the second round (45th overall) of the
2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...
by the
Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
.


Tennessee Titans

On August 10, 2006, during a Titans' practice, White was involved in a brief scuffle with teammate
Donnie Nickey Donnie Orvin Nickey (born April 25, 1980) is a former American football safety. He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Early years Nickey attended Jonathan Al ...
, where White spat in Nickey's face, drawing the ire of his teammates. On the field, White was used sparingly in his
rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
. He played in 13 games, gaining 244 yards on 61 carries with no touchdowns. White also caught 14 passes for 60 yards. White began the 2007 season splitting time with
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...
. He was held for under 60 rushing yards in the first four games. On October 21, with Brown sidelined with an injury, White recorded his first 100-yard rushing game against the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
. He followed up that performance with a career-high 133-yard rushing performance against the
Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
. For the season, he rushed for 1,110 yards and seven touchdowns with a 3.7 yard average. White underwent
arthroscopic knee surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...
. The knee had bothered White during the latter half of the 2007 season, but he was expected to be at full strength for off-season mini-camps in May. On March 15, 2008, White received citations for destruction of property, disobedience to a lawful order/interference and resistance while in Denver, Colorado, though all charges were later dropped. White was joined in the Titans backfield by rookie Chris Johnson, who was selected with the 24th pick in the 2008 draft. The duo eventually became known as "Smash and Dash". White had career highs in touchdowns in a season (15), longest run (80 yards), touchdowns in one game (three) and rushing yards in a game (149). He also created controversy after the Titans defeated the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
by stomping on a
Terrible Towel The Terrible Towel is a rally towel associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Terrible Towel has spread in popularity; for example, fans take their Towel to famous sites while o ...
. White finished the 2008 season with 773 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns (leading the AFC). White lost significant weight prior to the 2009 season, dropping to 229, claiming a tougher training regimen and cutting
tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...
out of his diet aided in his weight loss. After splitting carries with Johnson in 2008, White was virtually a non-factor in 2009 as Johnson became the featured back. White was re-signed by the Titans on April 15, 2010.


Seattle Seahawks

White was traded to the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
on April 24, 2010. The trade reunited White and his former USC
head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC Troja ...
. Shortly after signing, word leaked that White had failed an NFL drug test and would be suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season. The Seahawks released White on May 28, 2010.


Denver Broncos

On August 4, 2010, White was signed to a two-year deal by the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. However, on September 2, in the Broncos' last preseason game at the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
, White suffered a torn
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 ...
, and missed the entire 2010 season.Broncos' LenDale White out for season with torn Achilles'
/ref> He was released on August 16, 2011.


See also

*
List of NCAA Division I FBS running backs with at least 50 career rushing touchdowns The NCAA Division I FBS rushing leaders are career, single-season, and single-game leaders in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. These lists are dominated by more recent players for several reasons: * Since 1955, seasons have increased from 10 ...
*
List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders The list of college football yearly rushing leaders identifies the major college rushing leaders for each season from 1937 to the present. It includes yearly leaders in three statistical categories: (1) rushing yardage; (2) yards per carry; and (3 ...
*
List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders The list of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders identifies the NCAA major college scoring leaders. Beginning with the 1937 college football season, when the NCAA began maintaining official records, the list includes each year's lea ...


References


External links

*
Pro-Football-Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Lendale 1984 births Living people American football running backs Denver Broncos players Players of American football from Denver Seattle Seahawks players Tennessee Titans players USC Trojans football players