rexvol
The Minister of Defense
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- Apr 29, 2006
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DAVIE, Fla. -- The rookie's arm has been moved higher overhead, his stride shortened and his shoulder closed some to smooth a first-summer flaw in the throwing motion.
"To keep the ball from sailing," Pat White says.
But that mind. No one is tinkering too much with that.
There's no need.
"I only needed one team to believe," White said.
You can go to distant history of his junior high and early high school years, too, when he competed against the coach's son at quarterback. He was the backup each season. He never gave up. His junior year he was named the starter.
"The coach came to our house then and said some things had been said and done through the years and wanted to apologize," said White's father, James. "I just said, 'Don't mistreat my child.' Which he never did."
But the quintessential Pat White story, the one that covers the whole file of quarterback questions and smart decisions came during his college recruitment. He initially chose Louisiana State. It was close to his home of Daphne, Ala. It was the team he followed as a kid. His mom was pushing it.
LSU recruited White as an, "athlete," and he knew what that meant. Quarterback wasn't promised. It probably wasn't even on the radar. But when West Virginia began recruiting White only as a quarterback and had a spread offense to custom-fit his skills, LSU changed its tune.
Its coach told White he could play quarterback.
"I didn't think they were being honest," White says.
Its coach also said the previous year's top quarterback recruit, JaMarcus Russell, might not have the brains to play quarterback. Like White, Russell was from the Mobile, Ala., area. He knew Russell.
"I thought, 'If they were going to say that about him to me, what were they going to say about me to a [recruit] a year from now?' " White says. "I just didn't trust what I was being told."
So White went to West Virginia, started four years, won four bowl games and set records as a passer and a runner.
But here's the kicker to that story: The LSU coach was Nick Saban, the guy who took lying to a new level a few years later as Dolphins coach.
So give White points for figuring in a few weeks what it took everyone in South Florida a few years to understand. But then White has always been a quick read, as well as hard of hearing to detractors.
"Everywhere he goes people have said he couldn't do this and couldn't do that," says James White. "Couldn't beat out his competition in high school. Wasn't a big-time college player. It's the same in the NFL. But I love it when people tell him what he can't do."
It required a bit of unconventional thinking to draft White in the second round at quarterback.
White isn't the NFL prototype: a 6-foot left-hander who played entirely from the shotgun formation in college. At the Senior Bowl in January, he had trouble handling snaps from center early in the practice week. But on game day, he was the Most Valuable Player.
"To keep the ball from sailing," Pat White says.
But that mind. No one is tinkering too much with that.
There's no need.
"I only needed one team to believe," White said.
You can go to distant history of his junior high and early high school years, too, when he competed against the coach's son at quarterback. He was the backup each season. He never gave up. His junior year he was named the starter.
"The coach came to our house then and said some things had been said and done through the years and wanted to apologize," said White's father, James. "I just said, 'Don't mistreat my child.' Which he never did."
But the quintessential Pat White story, the one that covers the whole file of quarterback questions and smart decisions came during his college recruitment. He initially chose Louisiana State. It was close to his home of Daphne, Ala. It was the team he followed as a kid. His mom was pushing it.
LSU recruited White as an, "athlete," and he knew what that meant. Quarterback wasn't promised. It probably wasn't even on the radar. But when West Virginia began recruiting White only as a quarterback and had a spread offense to custom-fit his skills, LSU changed its tune.
Its coach told White he could play quarterback.
"I didn't think they were being honest," White says.
Its coach also said the previous year's top quarterback recruit, JaMarcus Russell, might not have the brains to play quarterback. Like White, Russell was from the Mobile, Ala., area. He knew Russell.
"I thought, 'If they were going to say that about him to me, what were they going to say about me to a [recruit] a year from now?' " White says. "I just didn't trust what I was being told."
So White went to West Virginia, started four years, won four bowl games and set records as a passer and a runner.
But here's the kicker to that story: The LSU coach was Nick Saban, the guy who took lying to a new level a few years later as Dolphins coach.
So give White points for figuring in a few weeks what it took everyone in South Florida a few years to understand. But then White has always been a quick read, as well as hard of hearing to detractors.
"Everywhere he goes people have said he couldn't do this and couldn't do that," says James White. "Couldn't beat out his competition in high school. Wasn't a big-time college player. It's the same in the NFL. But I love it when people tell him what he can't do."
It required a bit of unconventional thinking to draft White in the second round at quarterback.
White isn't the NFL prototype: a 6-foot left-hander who played entirely from the shotgun formation in college. At the Senior Bowl in January, he had trouble handling snaps from center early in the practice week. But on game day, he was the Most Valuable Player.
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