ATLANTA — To be a good running back, you need, speed, vision and patience. James White has all three.
He’s one of the fastest backs in recent franchise history — a fluid pass-catcher, he’s the perfect complement to the New England passing game when Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels want to step on the gas. He’s got extraordinary field vision, as his skills working in space make him one of the most dynamic performers in the league.
But his best quality? Patience, a character trait he’s possessed since he was a Florida high school star who had to sit and wait for his turn to become a starter.
The truth of the matter is White's playing career has been marked by a series of stops and starts: in high school, college and the pros, he often had to sit and wait until things sorted themselves out. But at each station of his professional career, White was savvy enough to display the patience needed to wait things out.
Now, in his fifth year in the NFL, he’s carved out a niche as New England’s offensive MVP while helping spark the Patriots to another trip to the Super Bowl. This is the oral history of White’s journey from high school backup to offensive centerpiece for one of the NFL’s best teams.
As a high schooler at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, White — whose parents both have long careers in law enforcement — sat behind future NFL star Gio Bernard before ascending to become the centerpiece of George Smith’s 2008 national championship team. In 2009, he followed that up with one of the best seasons for any high schooler in the state of Florida — running a Wildcat offense, he ended the year with 20 touchdowns, 1,145 rushing yards and 253 receiving yards while playing alongside future Patriots’ teammate Phillip Dorsett.
Smith: “Guys like Phillip and James, they get it. They understand. They’re two guys who go out and practice and don’t run their mouths. They can play.”
Despite his high school resume, the Florida schools passed on White, thinking the 5-foot-10, 205-pounder was too small. But their loss was the Big 10’s gain. White starred at Wisconsin as a freshman, finishing his first year with 1,052 rushing yards while averaging 6.7 yards per carry and landing Big 10 Freshman of the Year honors.
(Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
Super Bowl LIII
BSJ Oral History: How James White went from high school backup to offensive centerpiece
White rushed for 4,015 yards at Wisconsin. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst:
But White was usurped on the depth chart. The running back-rich Badgers decided to open up the competition in White’s sophomore year, and the job ended up going to Montee Ball. His positional coach at the time, Thomas Hammock, recalls what happened, and how White handled things.
Hammock:
White was drafted in the fourth round by the Patriots in the spring of 2014, a team that was already chock full of backs, a group that included Shane Vereen.
McDaniels:
Hammock:
But according to New England running backs coach Ivan Fears, it was an occasionally bumpy transition for a few reasons, not the least of which was the fact he didn’t get as many reps as maybe he initially anticipated -- he was active for just three games and had 14 touches on the year. There were also times where White was a little shocked at the bottom-line aspect of the business, in particular when some of his rookie teammates were cut.
Fears:
huge
‘Whooooo.’
At some point, Fears had to have a heart-to-heart with the frustrated youngster, who was a bit overwhelmed by NFL life in the early going.
Fears:
had
Very
His role built toward the end of the 2015 season, particularly after LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis went down with season-ending injuries. He ended the year with 40 catches for 410 yards, and was the primary focus for Brady in the 2015 AFC title game, where he targeted 16 times in the 20-18 loss. By this point, Hammock had moved on to a new gig — running backs coach with the Ravens, a bitter New England rival. He watched his old pupil grow from afar.
Hammock:
That gave way to 2016, the finest year of his career to that point — 60 catches, 551 yards and five touchdowns, to go along with 166 rushing yards and a 4.3 yards per carry average. He solidified his rep as a big-game performer with an epic Super Bowl against the Falcons that included 14 catches, 110 receiving yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
White ended Super Bowl L in overtime. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Fears:
steps up
Brady:
He was given a three-year extension in the months that followed, allowing the Patriots to walk away from Lewis. And in 2018, with an occasionally inconsistent offense in the first half of the season — Rob Gronkowski and Sony Michel were struggling with injuries, while Julian Edelman missed the first four games because of a PED ban and Josh Gordon worked to get up to speed in the offense — White was easily the most dependable offensive cog in the New England machine, making his case as the team's offensive MVP with a series of impressive performances in 2017 and 2018. That included 15 catches in the divisional round against the Chargers last month.
Cordarrelle Patterson:
Chryst:
Fears:
Where did you come from?
Hammock, who recently took over the program at Northern Illinois University, now has a simple philosophy when it comes to recruiting.
Hammock:
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