In Retrospect: Reggie White Was A True Ambassador of the NFL

By ANDRE JOHNSON

Bleacher Report Contributor

On the field, he was considered one of the most-feared and electrifying defensive ends in NFL history, an offensive coordinator's nightmare, unquestionably one of the most fierce and dominant pass rushers of his generation.

Off the field, he was a true ambassador of the league, a gentle giant, a warmhearted humanitarian with a well-publicized and sometimes controversial ministry, one that extended beyond the pulpit and oftentimes, unraveled on street corners in rundown neighborhoods.

Reggie White, the NFL’s second-all time sacks leader whose death one day after Christmas in 2004 stunned virtually the entire sports world, produced a professional football career comprised of a parade of accolades.

Nicknamed the “Minister of Defense” during his senior season at Tennessee because of his Christian ministry as an ordained minister and football smarts, White orchestrated an illustrious 15-year stint that was climaxed with his induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame two years after his demise.

While the 6-foot-5, 300-pound native of Chattanooga was widely known for his tenure as a NFL star, White launched his professional career in Memphis as a member of the Memphis Showboats of the defunct United States Football League. Even before the USFL was forced to cease operations in 1985 after only three seasons, his career appeared headed for being a propitious one.

In two seasons with the Showboats, he started 34 games, amassing 23 ½ sacks, 198 solo tackles, and seven forced fumbles. Though the USFL struggled to duplicate the success of the NFL, its strongest competitor, White’s career never faltered despite the league’s sudden collapse. He was taken fourth overall in the NFL’s supplemental draft in 1984 by Philadelphia, where he spent the next eight seasons.

During his days in Philly, his presence undoubtedly was felt on and off the field.

“Back when he was in Philadelphia, he would always be on the street, with downtrodden people and dealing with the homeless,” said USA Today national NFL reporter Jarrett Bell, who has been covering the league for nearly thirty years. “That was his thing, finding a way to minister to people and trying to get them to realize that he was one of them. For a superstar player, he was an approachable person.”

Bell, who came to know White personally, particularly after the 13-time Pro Bowler signed with the Green Bay Packers in 1993, credited White for helping lure most African- American players to Green Bay during a time when playing there wasn’t a popular trend. White played six seasons for the Packers, leading them to back-to-back Super Bowls, including a 35-21 victory against New England in Super Bowl 31, where he registered a record three sacks.

“He was a signature and dominant player,” Bell said of White. “He was versatile. He could play inside and out. When the Packers won the Super Bowl (in 1997), Brett Favre was the quarterback. But I bet you Brett will tell you Reggie was the leader of that team. A lot of players, particularly black players, didn’t want to go there. You couldn’t even go to the barber shop and get a haircut. You had to go to Milwaukee or have a barber come in.”

White, in fact, proved he was the missing piece to Green Bay resurfacing as a Super

Bowl contender. The Packers ranked 23^rd in the league in defense the year before White joined the club, but improved to No. 2 the following year. By 1996, the Packers’ championship season, Green Bay boasted the league’s top-ranked defense for the first time since 1967. Additionally, White posted the most sacks in Packers history from 1993-98 with 68 and is responsible for dropping 75 different quarterbacks.

His most-frequent victim was former New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl 21 MVP Phil Simms, whom he roughed up 15 times.

His 198 sacks are currently second all-time behind recent Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Smith, who retired with 200 after 19 seasons. The epitome of a team-leader, White was voted by ESPN Sportsnation as the greatest player in Eagles’ franchise history. He is believed to be the first athlete other than Jackie Robinson and Wayne Gretzky to have his number retired by three teams in the same season (Green Bay, University of Tennessee, and Philadelphia in 2005).

In 2000, White ended a one-year retirement and started 16 games for the Carolina Panthers. He garnered six sacks and one forced fumble before calling it a career for good at season’s end. His playing days, nonetheless, were met by an array of off-the-field controversy in large part because of his religious activities.

In 1998, his comments before a Wisconsin state legislature sparked a stir when he invoked racial stereotypes of Latinos, Asians, whites, blacks, and Native Americans. And, in his final pro season, a friend gave White a CD from Messianic teacher Monte Judah.

Upon his retirement, he began studying Torah and Torah-observant Messianic theology and Hebrew under Nehemia Gordon. Three years later, he consented to an interview by Messianic teacher and televangelist Michael Rood that was aired on the Sky Cable channel. After his death, the Messianic magazine Yavoh paid homage to White, acknowledging him as a “Messianic Believer.”

That ultimately led to confusion regarding his religious beliefs. Numerous reports, as a result, surfaced indicating that White, an ordained Baptist minister since he was 17, had abandoned Christianity and was studying Judaism.

In spite of his dreadful comments and tactics, the news of White’s passing at 43 sent shock waves throughout the league. In December 2004, White was rushed from his home in Cornelius, North Carolina to a nearby hospital in Huntersville where he was pronounced dead. It was discovered that he had suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia.

“I was in Indianapolis covering the Colts,” Bell recalls when hearing of White’s passing. “It was just devastating. I talked to Tony Dungy (former Colts head coach) that day and he was shocked. It happened so sudden and it just hits you like a ton of bricks.”

Subsequently, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, was a first ballot Hall of Famer. His widow, Sara, delivered her husband’s acceptance speech after being introduced by their son, Jeremy.

Last December, a portion of an intersection in White’s hometown was named Reggie White Boulevard — a reminder, of sorts, to the sports world that White’s extraordinary legacy essentially began in the small town of Chattanooga.

This article, written by sportswriter Andre Johnson, appeared in the November/December 2009 issue of Memphis Sport Magazine. To reach Johnson, call 901-690-6587, or send email to: [e-mail].