When the official diagnosis was delivered showing a greater degree of severity than initially surmised, running back LenDale White felt not pain, but relief.
Results of an MRI on White’s powerful, but troublesome right hamstring came back Thursday showing a moderate tear near the pelvic region, according to Dr. Randall Eldridge, a Denver chiropractor renowned for his treatment of musculoskeletal injuries.
The hamstring tear will sideline the former Chatfield High School and University of Southern California star until mid-May, which means White will not have a personal workout prior to the April 29 NFL draft and may not be ready for the mini-camp of the NFL team that selects him.
“He should recover fine,” Dr. Eldridge said. “He just needs time to heal. But I could see where he would have been in considerable pain had he tried to run.”
This is a rare case when an injury brought not bitterness but sweet vindication to an athlete. Unable to work out at the NFL scouting combine in late-February in Indianapolis or at the USC pro day on April 2, White was criticized as a malingerer.
His feelings hurt and ego bruised, the MRI finding helped White salvage some respect.
“This validates that the reason I didn’t run wasn’t because I didn’t want to, wasn’t because I was lazy, but because I was injured,” White said. “I did everything I possibly could to get ready for our pro day, but I knew something wasn’t right with my leg. Now I’ve got a doctor with 100 percent expertise on hamstrings saying I have a tear. To me, it proves the attacks against me were unjust.”
Considered among the best of the “big backs” available in the NFL draft, White initially was projected to go midway through the first round. Expectations rose to around the 10th overall pick amid reports he had lost weight from the 252 pounds he carried for 124 yards and three touchdowns in the national championship game against Texas, to around 235 pounds in anticipation of running the 40-yard dash in less than 4.5 seconds for NFL scouts.
But then White said he initially felt his hamstring go while working out on a Cybex machine, which measures knee strength, during the scouting combine. White, 21, decided against running in Indianapolis believing he would be at full speed by the time USC held its pro workout.
The hamstring pain persisted, though, and when he didn’t run the 40 in Los Angeles, White received stinging criticism from NFL coaches and draft pundits for not getting himself physically ready for his tryout.
His draft projections have since fell to late in the first round to midway through the second.
“Everybody in California was telling him he needed to run,” said Herman White, LenDale’s uncle and professional advisor. “Had he listened to everybody out there and ran with this tear, his hamstring would have ripped apart, and there’s no telling how long he would have been out.”
White hopes the tear found in his hamstring will ease NFL executive concerns about his work ethic. The extent of the potential damage to his draft value, however, won’t be known until April 29.
“I think this (medical) report brings it back to where it was before the USC pro day,” White said. “”It comes down to whether a team wants a big back or a smaller back. This class of running backs basically has me as the only big back and everybody else is 217 or less.”
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.
