Columns

Thankful for a late rookie year

Greg White's path to the Bucs took six years to navigate and comprised several detours.

By JOHN ROMANO, Times Columnist
Published November 22, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Brian Cassella | Times] The Bucs' Greg White played in the CFL, Arena League and NFL Europe and had nonfootball jobs, including security guard.

TAMPA - You begin this day by counting your blessings.

You may choose to revisit the past, or perhaps you pause to consider the future. You wonder about paths that were taken, and opportunities that once seemed out of reach.

If you are Greg White, you may even give thanks for a life you had given up on.

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In the time it took for a calendar to turn over, Greg White's world has done the same. And for the first time ever, this grinning, playful, bear of a man gets to stand on top.

Consider that his last Thanksgiving was cut short because White was busy earning a living. The biggest shopping day of the year was hours away, and he had to show up for his security job at an Orlando Best Buy store at 3 a.m.

Yes, the guy who is playing for the No. 2 scoring defense in the NFL and leading the team in sacks was wearing an employee name tag and earning a workingman's wages just months ago.

But, I suppose, it could have been worse. And, at times, it actually was. White had also put in time carrying 45-pound jugs of water through the service entrances of businesses in Manhattan. And he stood eight hours a day in an Ohio factory, making sure the seals and tops were securely in place on bottles of maple syrup.

What he had never done was wear the uniform of an NFL team during a regular-season game.

"I'm grateful. I'm very grateful and appreciative of being here," White said earlier this week. "I learned long ago, even if I never made it to this point, that nobody owed me anything. So I wasn't going to be bitter. I just wanted the opportunity.

"I'm not saying other guys didn't work hard to get here. I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying not a lot of them had to take my route. It's given me an appreciation for this that a lot of guys may not have."

In the six years since his last college game, White had gone to training camp or been on the practice squads of the Bucs, the Redskins, the Saints, the Titans, the Falcons and the Bears. He played in NFL Europe. He was on a Canadian Football League practice squad. He spent two years in the Arena Football League, playing for the Orlando Predators.

But, until two months ago, he had never played a down in a real NFL game.

More than once, White was ready to give up. To return to college to finish his degree and begin a career as a counselor. He was tired of the rejection. Tired of the constant moving. And tired of feeling like he had failed.

It seemed every time he was released, White would be forced to call his older sister, Jane Rodriguez in East Orange, N.J., and ask if she could spare a bed.

"He would get so depressed coming back here," Rodriguez said. "He would say if it didn't work out the next time, he was going to quit. And I told him, 'No, you're not. This is all you've talked about since you were 5 years old. This is your life. This is your heart. You're going to keep going until it happens for you.'"

The break he needed was more of a last resort. After being ignored in every other league, White's agent suggested the Arena Football League. With nowhere else to turn, White decided to give it a shot.

Two years later, he was the most dominant lineman in the league. White was near the bottom of the celebrity scale, his paychecks were so small that he had to supplement his income at Best Buy, and he was playing an alternative version of the game he loved, but White had at last found a home.

The idea of rejection had grown so distasteful for him, White briefly considered passing on the offer when the Bucs and another NFC team came calling last summer.

"He was nervous about making the change," said James Shaw, a friend of White's and his boss at Best Buy. "He had found his comfort zone in the Arena Football League, and he was afraid of going back to the NFL and being told he wasn't good enough again. We spent a lot of time in his apartment talking about it.

"I told him, 'You don't want to wake up in a few years and regret that you missed this chance.'"

Maybe he would have done it anyway. Maybe he would have come to his senses, regardless.

But there was something different about this opportunity. Something that made it seem like more than just another four weeks of sweating and grunting through training camp with little hope for reward.

First of all, he had the support of Predators coach Jay Gruden, who just happened to have a famous brother in charge of the Bucs. Plus, White had been through training camp with Tampa Bay in 2002 and had some familiarity with the organization. And the Bucs had lost Dewayne White to free agency and Simeon Rice had been cut on the eve of training camp, leaving a void at defensive end.

The Bucs had been keeping an eye on White since his 2006 Arena season and convinced him they were not bringing him in to be another warm body in camp.

"We had a pretty good idea he could help us, but I think it's fair to say he has exceeded our expectations," said Bucs director of pro personnel Mark Dominik. "And with the kind of athlete he is, we think he can do even more."

He is 28 and still a rookie. He has lost years in his career that will never be regained, and he has missed a ton of paychecks that will forever be lost. He took a long road to get here and endured more disappointment than most.

Yet, today, Greg White is thankful.

Thankful for the opportunity. Thankful for his blessings.

Thankful for the life he had always dreamed of.

John Romano can be reached at (727) 893-8811.

[Last modified November 21, 2007, 22:09:27]