Enter LenDale White.
This season, White has been a walking (read: not running) disappointment for the Tennessee Titans. So much so that rumors are now swirling that White may be released to free up salary cap room. And it goes beyond White's lack of production on the field. It has quite a bit more to do with White's production off the field, namely at the dinner table. Take a look at the picture below. On the left is a picture of White from this past season with the Titans. On the right is a picture of White during his final season in college at the University of Southern California. Focus on the midsections.
See the difference? As with most collegians who aspire to play pro sports, athletes push themselves to prove their worth to prospective pro scouts. One adjective for such athletes could be... hungry. (I find that term fitting considering the context.) Once said athletes reach the professional ranks, oftentimes they lose their desire to work as hard as they did in college. It has been said many times about boxers: It takes so much more work to defend a title than to win one. When you're trying to reach the top, you work so much harder than you do once you reach the top. Athletes become complacent, thinking they don't have to work out anymore because of all they've already accomplished. One exception is Jerry Rice. Rice was the hardest worker in the NFL over the course of his entire career. What does that tell you? In LenDale White's case, as proven by the picture on the left, he looks anything but hungry.
Not that White's road to the NFL was showered with roses. White was considered to be a first-round pick when he first declared he was going to forgo his senior season at USC and enter the 2006 Draft. But incessant questions about his ability to control his weight lowered his stock to the point that he fell to the second round, where the Titans selected him with 45th pick.
This season White has shown a chronic desire to be a bad teammate. You may ask, Well what constitutes being a good teammate? Be humble. Share praise. Work hard. Never rip a teammate or coach. Show respect to your opponent. If you would rather see examples of good teammates, look at a guy like Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. Paul plays his heart out every night, and you can't be the guy leading the NBA in assists without being a good teammate. Or how about Hines Ward? This is a guy playing wide receiver in the NFL, the position known to produce the most selfish of players, and what is his favorite thing to do? Block. Good teammate. So who are some guys that could be considered bad teammates? Stephon Marbury. Terrell Owens. Manny Ramirez. Those three are interested in only one thing: themselves. And they play team sports. Funny how that works out, isn't it? Problem is, LenDale White falls into the bad teammate category. Here's why...
After the Titans lost their first game of the season on 23 November to the New York Jets, White stood in the locker room in front of a drove of reporters and said, "Coming into these games, you expect to get certain carries or certain things going on, or at least that's what they tell you. Then you get in these games and just randomly play three plays. I couldn't really tell you what happened [during the game], I have no idea. I wasn't paying attention so I didn't care." That's the kind of attitude White has held this season. And the previous quote came at a time when the Titans' record was 10-1, tied for best in the NFL. It should also be noted that White's most productive games this season came against some of the worst run defenses in the NFL. His highest single-game totals were against, in order: 149 yards vs. Kansas City (ranked 30th out of 32 teams in rushing yards allowed), 106 yards vs. Detroit (ranked 32nd out of 32), 99 yards vs. Cleveland (28th), 77 yards vs. Green Bay (26th), and 59 yards vs. Cincinnati (21st). Conversely, in four games this season against the three best defenses in the NFL-- two games against Baltimore (3rd) and one game each against Pittsburgh (2nd) and Minnesota (1st)-- White had a grand total of 110 rushing yards. So it seems that White only plays well against lesser competition. That sure comes in handy for a team vying for a shot at the Super Bowl!
And in the aforementioned game on 21 December against the Pittsburgh Steelers (a 31-14 home victory for the Titans), White grabbed a "Terrible Towel"-- long known as a symbol of the Steelers team and its fans-- and proceeded to throw it on the ground. That's bad enough, but he didn't stop there! He then decided it would be a good idea to take his overweight carcass and stomp on it. And did I mention he came up with this elaborate plan with television cameras fixed upon him? It shows the absolute and unyielding lack of class that is becoming more and more visible to anyone unfortunate enough to have to see him.
Understandably, the Steeler Nation lashed out at White. Fans, players, coaches, even city officials. Steeler cornerback Deshea Townsend said, "What [White] did that day was almost like taking a jersey and putting it on the ground after a win and stepping on it. You just don't do that. There is a proper way to play the game and a way that you act, and [the Titans] do not act like that. It's disrespectful." Linebacker Larry Foote chimed in as well, saying, "You see right now we got the last laugh. That's what they get for trying to humiliate us and rub it in, for not showing any class. We wanted to play them again, but they couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. That's what they get for stomping on the towel. We're stepping on them right now."
So upon hearing this, what do you think the eloquent and professional LenDale White had to say in response?
White said, "No way do I regret it. I would do it 100 times again. I'd do it tomorrow if we played them."
Some people just don't get it.
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