Robert Arlen White (born April 9, 1963) is a former American football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. He played college football at the University of Rhode Island.
| No. 70, 65 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Center Guard | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | April 9, 1963 Lunenburg, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 272 lb (123 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Lunenburg (MA) | ||||||
| College: | Rhode Island | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 1986 / round: 7 / pick: 189 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
| |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Early life
editWhite attended Lunenburg High School, where he was a Watchusetts League All-star. He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Rhode Island. He started his first 2 seasons at center. He started at left tackle as a junior.
As a senior, he started at right tackle in an offense that featured quarterback Tom Ehrhardt, who led the nation in total offense, passing an average of 50 times a game, while scoring a total of 42 touchdowns. He was named a team captain and was a part of two Yankee Conference titles in his last 2 years.[1]
In 2011, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Athletics Hall of Fame.[2]
Professional career
editNew York Jets
editWhite was selected by the New York Jets in the seventh round (189th overall) of the 1986 NFL draft.[3][4] He was waived on August 25.[5]
Dallas Cowboys
editIn 1987, he was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. He began training camp playing at guard and was switched to center for the last 2 weeks. He was released before the start of the season on September 7.[6] After the players went on a strike on the third week of the season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16-game season to 15) and the NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. In September, he was re-signed to be a part of the Cowboys replacement team, which was given the mock name "Rhinestone Cowboys" by the media. He ended up playing well in those 3 games as the starter at right guard, and was kept for the rest of the season playing mainly as a backup and on special teams.
In 1988, he suffered a thigh bruise in training camp that forced him to miss 4 regular-season contests.[7] He appeared in 12 games with 3 starts in place of an injured Tom Rafferty. In 1989, he appeared in 8 games with 4 starts in place of an injured Rafferty.
New England Patriots
editOn March 23, 1990, he was signed in Plan B free agency by the New England Patriots.[8] He was cut on September 3. He was re-signed on October 26 and released after 2 games on November 6.[9] He was re-signed on November 8 and cut on after one game on November 12.[10]
Personal life
editWhite worked as a sparring partner for local light and middle heavyweights during his first two years in college.
References
edit- ^ "Rhode Island Welcomes Newest Hall of Fame Class". University of Rhode Island. January 26, 2011.
- ^ "University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "1986 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
- ^ "Jets pick players to help shore up their porous offensive line". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Jets cut 2nd round draft pick". Retrieved April 21, 2022.
- ^ "Transactions". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Injury wave strikes Dallas linebackers". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Patriots". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Patriots Release White". Retrieved April 21, 2023.
- ^ "Patriots release White, re-sign Douglas". UPI.com. November 13, 1990. Retrieved April 21, 2023.