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White Takes Long Way, But He Gets There

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

Updated: 09/21/2007 12:24 am

He broke on through.

After all the years beating his head against a wall at NFL training camps until his heart was broken, after NFL Europe, after starring in Arena games, all those back roads, here was his moment.
Bucs defensive end Greg White, 28, broke on through Sunday and tackled Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

His first NFL sack.

It wasn't like a sack in the Arena league. The field was bigger. You beat one guy and another one showed up.

'It takes a longer way to get there,' White said.

He took the longer way.

He thought about early this month, when the final Bucs cuts came in. He was finally an NFL player. He dialed his mom, Vera, and left a message. It was 3 a.m. Vera called back. Being Vera, she sang to her son.

'My baby made it. My baby made it. My baby made it.'

Her baby made it.

An Inspiration

We talk about new Bucs trying to make their marks, and few warm a heart like a rookie and friendly smile named Greg White.

'Man, he's a testament to perseverance,' said Derrick Brooks, who, unlike us, remembers White from training camp for the 2002 Super Bowl season. White didn't make the team and was soon dropped from the practice squad.

'He's an inspiration for a lot of people,' Brooks said. 'Never give up. You never know when your chance to shine will come.'

'Yeah, every team I ever went to, I made it to the last cut,' White said. He can laugh now.

He listed places where he didn't stick after being drafted in the seventh round by Houston in 2002. Houston, Tampa, Atlanta, Washington, Tennessee, Chicago, New Orleans. Everyone liked his speed and athleticism, but ...

Chicago in 2005 might have been the toughest. White made it to the morning after the final cuts.

'When you make it to the 9 o'clock meetings, it usually means you're in there, right? No. I went into the meeting thinking 'I really made it.' I came out and they said, 'Greg ...''

'I was used to moving around as a kid,' White said. He grew up in Newark, N.J. His family went on welfare and at one point into a homeless shelter. White and his brother Henry once came across a dice game outside their house. The shooting started. Henry took a slug in the leg.

'I don't want to take anything away from anyone else's 'hood, but it was tough, man,' White said.

One reason he chose the University of Minnesota for college was his recruiting visit. It was snowing.

'It was like one of those globes you turn upside down and there's snow in it.'

He said, 'You can be a thug by choice. It's not 'Oh, because I'm from the 'hood, I had to be this way.' You have a choice. It's all about choice.'

He took the long way.

And earned his break.

Jay Gruden, head coach of the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League and a Bucs offensive assistant to his brother Jon, brought White to the Preds in 2006.

White was an Arena superstar. He set an AFL record with 15 sacks in 2007. He was named the league's best defensive player, adorned the cover of the team media guide and was the Preds' highest-paid player. His trademark celebration was a back flip, all 270 pounds of him.

'Best player in the league,' Jay Gruden said.

Tired of NFL letdowns, White was content in Arena.

'I said, 'Hey, it's fine, I'm the big dog here, this ain't bad ...''

But Jay Gruden worked on him when the Saints showed interest along with Jay's brother. White signed early in Bucs camp.

'He's a big reason why I'm here,' White said of Jay Gruden. 'He fought for me.'

'Give Jay a lot of credit,' Jon Gruden said, 'because this didn't really help his team. I wouldn't exactly offer up Ronde Barber to him.'

'This is nice to see,' Jay said.

No Call, No Flip

White wasn't sure he'd made the Bucs even after the final cuts. Can you blame him? He waited for bad news.

'I kept my phone by me.'

It didn't happen.

'It was weird, because you don't get a phone call when you're on the team. I kept checking my messages. I kind of crept in here the next day, like, hey, my locker's still there. I thought maybe it was because they were still letting people go, like that morning. So I kind of put on my clothes and kept looking around.'

White tiptoed to practice.
Bucs defensive end Greg Spires hollered.

'Yo, you made the team!'

And Sunday, Greg White made a sack.

'It means now the bar is set,' he said. 'It gets tougher now.'

Question: Why no flip?

'Give me about six more weeks to get in shape,' White said.

He took the long way here.

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