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Henderson column: Bucs' White Is Grateful For His Chance

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

Updated: 11/21/2007 11:12 pm

Tomorrow morning, Greg White no doubt will attend some meetings with his defensive teammates and maybe run though some final preparations for Sunday's game between the Bucs and Washington Redskins. It's just part of the weekly ritual this time of year in the National Football League.

But perhaps he'll take just a moment to smile at the memory of where he came from. It has been quite a journey. This time last year, his job wasn't to track down opposing quarterbacks. He tracked down crooks. If you tried to walk out of Best Buy without paying the bill for that laptop under your coat, White would have been all over you.

It's something he thinks about on the approach of Black Friday, one of the heaviest shopping days of the year.

He was working with the giant electronics chain in one of its Orlando stores. His job was called LP - loss prevention, which is at least a little weird since Greg White's current position calls for creating as much loss as possible. As a defensive end with the Bucs, he has 4.5 sacks, two coming last Sunday against Atlanta along with a pair of forced fumbles.

He is also one of the happiest, brightest, feel-good stories on a team that is generating its share of those in this surprising season. You could say he is one of the club's, ahem, best buys of the year.

If you see Jon Gruden wandering through the camcorder aisle in the next few days, don't worry. He's just looking for players.

"My brother is up in the press box, and every time he makes a play, he says, 'I told you so.' He's a great story. Greg White is a great story, indeed," journalism professor Gruden said.

The story never lacked for drama, just a chance for a happy ending. That has now been corrected.

"I'm trying to put it all in perspective," White said. "I don't want to take anything for granted. I'm very excited to be here. I'm blessed. I'm very, very grateful."

Eighth Time A Charm

We say he lacked a chance. That's not entirely accurate. He had tryouts with seven other NFL teams, including the Bucs, since being drafted by Houston in 2002. Besides Tampa and Houston, he had training camp stops in Atlanta, Tennessee, New Orleans, Chicago and Washington.

But none of those places gave him a chance to open the season, so he wandered through the World League and the Arena League and made a good impression every place he went. He led both of those leagues in sacks.

"I don't know what else a guy has to do," Jay Gruden said.

Jay was White's coach with the Orlando Predators and one of his biggest fans. With the Bucs desperate for pass rushers this season, he kept telling brother Jon that White was the answer. He said it often enough and loudly enough that big brother finally said OK.

"It couldn't happen to a better guy," Jay said. "I'm just happy he took advantage of his opportunity. It was all on Greg. There was no guarantee that just because I recommended him that he'd make the team. He had to do it. But he can do everything you want a pass rusher to do."

It has been a long season. White joined the Bucs after playing a full Arena season, so he already has the wear of 27 games - more, if you count exhibitions.

"This time last year, where was I? Best Buy? Working part time at Best Buy? I can't complain about nothing," he said, flashing that trademark smile that he gives out freely to pretty much anyone who happens by.

Here To Stay

There's no telling why he didn't stick in those other places. He was usually one of the last guys told to grab his playbook and go see Coach. Looking at how he is playing now, you wonder why something like that could happen.

Maybe once or twice, sure. But seven times? He admittedly was a little gun-shy when he showed up last summer at training camp.

"We assured him we keep the best players, that we didn't just bring him in for camp fodder," defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said.

Good decision. Effective pass rushers are hard to find - especially a guy like this, who is effective at the run as well as the pass. He is good now but, as Jay Gruden said, "he is going to get better and better."

"It's a little bit of luck, a little bit of who you know," White said. "But they gave me an opportunity to play. That's all I asked for."

It's all he needed.

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