The tears flowed down LenDale White’s face as he walked out of the Hiawatha Recreation Center in Park Hill and took a knee in the middle of an adjacent field. After a long wait – a very long wait – it suddenly hit him.
He wasn’t far from where he once terrorized youth football teams with the Skyline Pirates, whose aqua jersey hung inside the rec center along with those of South and Chatfield high schools and the University of Southern California.
Soon they will be joined by a jersey from the Tennessee Titans – then, as White vows, a hide from every team that passed him up in Saturday’s NFL draft.
In one of the more surprising events of the draft, White, USC’s record holder for career touchdowns with 57, wasn’t taken until the 45th pick overall, by Tennessee in the second round.
“I have a 40-team chip on my shoulder,” White said, “and somebody’s going to pay.”
Ever since his hamstring injury at the NFL combine in February, White’s stock has dropped. But Saturday morning it took another major hit.
A story in the Los Angeles Daily News, citing multiple sources, said White tested positive in an NFL drug test at the combine.
White said he knew nothing about the report until Saturday morning when he heard about it from his uncle and adviser, Herman White, who said he heard it an hour earlier from a reporter. White and his uncle said he didn’t test positive at the combine and hasn’t been tested since.
“I don’t know nothing about no drug test or failing a drug test,” LenDale White said. “Nobody ever talked to me about it. Nobody’s ever called me in on it.”
The story quoted White saying, “(The NFL) ain’t worried about it. The issue’s been addressed.”
When asked about the quote, White said, “I was quoted in the paper saying what? That’s not my quote. I ain’t talked to anyone from L.A. Let’s get that summed up right now.”
White was projected as a top 15 pick after scoring three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl. However, he injured his hamstring at the scouting combine, then declined to run the 40-yard dash at USC’s pro scouting day because of the injury. Some reports said he had gained weight since the combine and recent projections had White going late in the first round.
When he fell into the second round, even going after safety Danieal Manning from Division II Abilene Christian, it seemed the report was driving his stock down. Herman White said four teams contacted him Saturday and asked if he and LenDale were aware of a positive test. They said no.
“First, his work ethics were being questioned, the injury was being questioned, then the allegations of the drugs all came out,” Herman White said. “All that affected him in (the) draft.”
At least one NFL coach, Denver’s Mike Shanahan, was surprised by White’s situation.
“I’m sure he’s excited to play and excited to prove everybody wrong. But he should have been a top 15 pick,” Shanahan said Saturday.
LenDale White maintained a cool demeanor as team after team passed on him. He signed autographs and stacks of photos for some of the 200 friends and family members who waited for the big moment.
When he heard his name on the ESPN broadcast, he yelled, “There we go! Tennessee, baby!”
After the place erupted and White dried his eyes, his fall seemed a long time ago. He said he thinks a team could have fabricated the drug test report “so you can fall to their pick,” he said. “They’ll call you fat and out of shape. I’ve heard that from a lot of coaches.”
In Tennessee, White goes to a team that has gone 9-23 the past two years and finished 23rd in the NFL in rushing. Former Colorado back Chris Brown, 25, led the Titans with 851 yards rushing.
White reunites with offensive coordinator Norm Chow, whose explosive offense helped USC to national titles in 2003 and 2004, and with quarterback Vince Young, the first-round draft pick whose Texas Longhorns beat USC for the national title last season.
“If I’d gone first I’d have a lot of money, but I like going to a good team,” White said. “I like going to Tennessee. Coach Chow’s there. It’s a great offense. It’s going to fit me great.”
White was asked if he would have left USC after his junior season if someone had told him he’d be the 45th player taken in the draft.
“I’d still do it,” he said. “This is what I want to do. I had nothing else to prove at SC. No matter what those guys up there have to say on draft day, the fact is I won two national titles, played for a third and I have a USC record for touchdowns.
“What more can I do?”
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
Local draft picks
Recent metro-area draft picks in the first three rounds:
2005 – Alex Smith, second round, Stanford, Bucs, Mullen
2003 – Andre Woolfolk, first round, Titans, Thomas Jefferson
2002 – Ryan Denney, second round, Bills, Horizon
Daniel Graham, first round, Patriots, Thomas Jefferson
1998 – Brian Kelly, second round, Bucs, Overland
1997 – Greg Jones, second round, Redskins, John F. Kennedy
1995 – Tony Boselli, first round, Jaguars, Fairview
Chris Sanders, third round, Oilers, Montbello
1992 – Joel Steed, third round, Steelers, Hinkley
1991 – David McCloughan, third round, Colts, Loveland
1984 – Herman Heard, third round, Chiefs, South
1976 – Dave Logan, third round, Browns, Wheat Ridge
1975 – Mark Mullaney, first round, Vikings, George Washington
1970 – Bobby Anderson, first round, Broncos, Boulder
Steve Zabel, first round, Eagles, Thornton
1968 – Dick Anderson, third round, Dolphins, Boulder
– Neil H. Devlin
