Los Angeles – LenDale White looked like he received the biggest scare of his life. Picture a multi-millionaire who nearly went broke, combine it with a man who walked away from a plane crash, and you have White’s state of mind as he answered questions last week.
Who could blame him? How’s this for the life of a college student: You’re the starting tailback on the two-time defending national champions, a 1,000-yard rusher climbing the all-time chart at a school they call Tailback U.
You’re a celebrity in Tinseltown and some people would rather hang with you than Julia Roberts. You’re so good you’re keeping a Heisman Trophy candidate out of the starting lineup, and your powerhouse Southern California team is favored to run the table again.
And it was taken away from you.
The 2003 Chatfield High School graduate caught a glimpse of life without football.
White never flinches in the face of All-America linebackers or a national TV audience of millions. Missing spring practice because of missed classes scared him straight.
“It hurt me a lot,” said White, gleefully talking after his first practice with the Trojans since December. “More than the practice, I hurt my teammates. I let them down a lot.”
White and USC want to make something clear. He wasn’t ineligible. He received good grades and passed the necessary hours.
However, USC coach Pete Carroll put more teeth in his class-attendance policy last year, and it bit White before spring ball. White estimates he missed about 20 classes, not enough to drop below USC’s or the NCAA’s standards but enough to fall below Carroll’s.
“Some of my friends and some other people I know that go to other schools tell me they miss way more class and get by,” White said. “But that’s the rule here. We have to go to school first. It’s always school first. It took a tough way to realize it, but now I know. And it won’t happen no more.”
White sounded as apologetic as a man who left his team in a hotel fire. And he didn’t bother with making excuses. “Sleeping in,” he said. “I was a normal college student.”
A lot of football players have faced suspension and worse. How- ever, most had spotty academic records coming into college. Coming out of Chatfield, White didn’t. What happened?
“They’re young guys,” said Todd McNair, the USC running backs coach. “We won back-to- back national championships. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on with that. Sometimes you’ve got to remind guys of what’s important.”
Said White: “No. It wasn’t that at all. The year before that I missed class just as many times. We just didn’t have that rule.”
Considering all the off-field problems at USC during the offseason – wide receiver Steve Smith fractured tight end Dominique Byrd’s jaw in a fight, cornerback Eric Wright was arrested on suspicion of rape – White’s transgression was fairly minor. Besides, defensive end Frostee Rucker, defensive tackle Manuel Wright and Byrd also sat out for the same reason.
However, White produced a louder blip on USC’s radar. He’s that valuable. His 1,103 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns led the Trojans last season, and he made the all-Pacific 10 second team. He became the first Trojan to lead the Pac-10 in touchdowns since Marcus Allen in 1981.
Now a junior, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound White already is 18th (1,857 yards) on a school rushing list that looks like roll call of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“He’s just a brute,” Carroll said. “He’s so physical. He’s got a nature about him where he likes to be that way.”
How good is White? Well, many consider 2004 Heisman finalist Reggie Bush the Heisman favorite this year, even more than quarterback Matt Leinart, last year’s Heisman winner. Bush scored 13 touchdowns by rushing, receiving and returning punts, and was second in the Pac-10 in kick returns.
Generally considered the most exciting player in college football, Bush doesn’t start. White does. Bush plays all over the backfield. But Bush would play more if not for White, Carroll said.
“There’s no question that would happen,” Carroll said. “But we’re fortunate we don’t have to rely on only one guy.”
The question is whether those roles will change. Missing spring ball didn’t help White, nor did missing Orange Bowl practice with a sprained ankle that slowed him the second half of the season. He’s hampered by a sore back. Carroll, meanwhile, gushes about Bush, saying, “He’s so far ahead of everybody else” and makes no commitment to White yet.
“The biggest thing about him is to make him consistently part of the program and be out here practicing and working so he can be at his best,” Carroll said. “He’s had very, very stilted years here. He’s been in and out and in and out with stuff that’s bothered him, so we’re looking for consistency.
“If he’s with us all the way through and he’s consistently in shape, he’s really, really hard to handle.”
Even though his view is of Bush, White isn’t looking over his shoulder, saying, “I have two rings and that’s because me and Reggie know how to get along.”
Besides, Bush has seen worse views. From the sidelines.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
