The Minister of Defense: 1961-2004
December 28, 2004
by Gordon Lee
Few men in sports have a bold personal effect on sports fans and non-sports fans alike. Only one man in sports could be the best player at his position and, in a way, be your personal mentor in any facet of life. “The Minister of Defense” is a future Hall of Famer, he held the sack record, he was a preacher and now, he is gone at too young of an age. Left behind were many people that the great man could have helped and the many things he sought to learn by himself. Reggie White was a controversial figure, not afraid to say things that would offend others but with the best intentions for the ultimate reason we are all on this Earth. Reggie White died Sunday morning of a massive heart attack brought on by sleep apnea, at the age of 43.
The story of Reginald Howard White begins on December 19th, 1961 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when he was born to Thelma Collier and Charles White. He was the youngest of three kids. The family situation he was born into was similar to most that grew up in any projects - his parents never married and money was tight. When he was a baby most of the family's money was spent on glass bottles. When his mother gave him milk his routine was to take the bottle and throw it against the wall when he was finished.
When he was seven his mother married his stepfather, Leonard Collier. His mother and Leonard moved to Kansas where he was stationed in the army, however, Reggie and his older brother decided to stay with their grandmother in Tennessee. Reggie had a nickname for his grandmother, it was “mother.” His “mother” began Reggie's journey by teaching him right and wrong based on the Good book. They attended an all black church that had a white pastor, Reverend Ferguson. Reggie learned a life lesson from Reverend Ferguson that you show people you love them by spending time with them. At this age, Reggie had two dreams - to be a professional football player and a minister.
At this point Reggie had one prized personal possession in the world, a bag of cat eye marbles. Growing up in the projects where a bully was routine, holding onto a prized possession was fairly difficult to do. Reggie had dreams on how to defend his marbles. He would give the bully a couple of them, hoping that the bully would be satisfied and leave the rest alone. The reality was much different. When the bully confronted him Reggie told him to forget it, that the marbles were staying with him. When the bully reached to take the marbles Reggie mustered all of his courage and punched him right in the nose. This was how Reggie learned to face his fear and overcome it.
White played baseball when he was younger but he wasn't very good. Despite his large frame he could not hit a home run. His faith in prayer began on the baseball field, believe it or not. Let me set the situation for a quote out of his Autobiography. Reggie is up to bat. He waited on the next two pitches to check out the pitchers control, each were down the middle. This forced Reggie to swing on the next pitch.
“Then like lightning out of the sky came an instant flash-why not pray and ask God to help me hit a home run? Why not? I stepped out of the batter’s box and prayed, believing that He could help me do it. I stepped back into the batter’s box and prepared to clobber that ball with all of my might. I never saw the next pitch, but I heard and felt my bat connect with the ball. I opened my eyes just in time to see the ball sailing over the fence. Now, I know you may think that the principle I learned at that game was to pray for anything you want, and God will give it to you. No way. Prayer does not work like that. I learned never to give up hope. In spite of any circumstance, never give up hope.”
Reggie began playing football while in Junior High. After watching a highlight of O.J. Simpson he decided he wanted to play on defense. When he began playing football in the seventh grade the eighth graders would hit him so hard that he decided to quit. Football was for them, not Reggie White. However he saw a game later in the season and saw the respect and adulation football players received. He was determined to give the sport another try.
It wouldn’t get easier for Reggie in High School. Coach Robert Pulliam pushed Reggie harder than he had ever been pushed in both football and basketball, which White excelled in. One day Pulliam challenged Reggie at a game of basketball. As Reggie moved towards the basket with the ball Pulliam decked him with a forearm in the face. The hit knocked Reggie down and gave him an instant headache. He wobbled back to the locker room and began to cry. That day, Reggie made the decision to be the toughest player around, thus fulfilling the goal that coach Pulliam had set out to accomplish in his name.
Reggie had offers to go to nearly any college. His six final choices were UCLA, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Miami, Alabama and Michigan. After visiting each school, he was most impressed with UCLA. However, California was a long way from Tennessee. White attended a Tennessee Volunteer football game and was awestruck. He made the decision that Tennessee was where he wanted to go.
College was where he would learn football’s biggest lessons. He would learn toughness beyond the High School level, he would learn how to be a team player and would learn how to overcome injuries. His lungs were worked as they never had before, he wanted to quit but his mom wouldn’t let him. The soon-to-be legend would stick out all of the obstacles that were in his way. This was the point where Reggie began to understand that his religious beliefs would always make life hard on him with some reporters looking over him for awards because of them. One reporter said that he wasn’t tough enough because of his religion. This lit a fire under him to get back at those reporters his senior season. He did. Those same reporters voted him the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy (given to the outstanding college lineman of the year).
At the time he was going to become a professional he was still a few hours short of his degree. He was drafted in the first round by the Memphis Showboats of the newly formed USFL (United States Football League). Reggie did not let his education slip away, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in human services in 1990.
Why did Reggie choose the USFL over the NFL? He wanted to stay close to home and looked forward to being coached by Showboats’ head coach Pepper Rogers. Reggie had reached his dream of becoming a professional football player. However, the USFL would only last through Reggie’s second season, meaning his NFL career would have to begin.
In the Spring of 1985, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted White with their first round pick in the Supplemental Draft. Reggie had trouble adapting to the “here today, gone tomorrow” theory of the NFL. Especially when a good friend Tom Struthers was released. He missed four games his rookie season and still won the Defensive Rookie of the Year, made the NFL All-Rookie team and received an Honorable Mention All-Pro. Over the next few years he was elected to a pro bowl each year and to the All-Madden team, receiving the 40-pound trophy that Madden hands out.
Reggie’s faith began to reach it’s peak in the NFL. Let me point out another quote in his autobiography that only Reggie can say.
“I had been up against a Detroit rookie for most of the day from my left defensive end position and was really able to outmaneuver just about any move he made to stop me. I could tell how frustrated he was when the head gear on our helmets locked us together. Now, instead of helping each other get untangled like grown men, a football player sometimes must show how tough he is by using foul language or out shoving his adversary. This rookie used language that I would not let my dogs hear. There’s something you have to understand here about Reggie White. I can take getting manhandled or beat up. I can even take losing a tough game. But I cannot tolerate being cussed out to my face by anybody. To this day I am not sure why I said what I said to this guy after we jerked our helmets apart. I looked him right in the eye and pointed my finger at his nose and announced, “Jesus is coming back soon, and I hope you’re ready.” I think the rookie was as shocked at what he heard as I was about what I had said. He looked at me, shouted another curse at me and walked back to his huddle. At this time my defensive teammates were urging me back to the huddle. Refusing to return I shouted across the field at him, “Jesus is coming back soon, and I hope you’re ready.” When back in the huddle I shouted to my teammates, “Jesus is coming back soon, and I hope he’s ready. When I got to the line I went in my stance, looked him into the eyes and stated, “Jesus is coming back soon and I don’t think you’re ready.” When the ball was snapped, in an ominous confidence, I declared to the rookie, “ Here comes Jesus!”
Reggie met his soon-to-be wife Sara in 1981 when her sister Liz set her and Reggie up on a blind date. At this time Reggie and Sara had committed their lives to Jesus Christ and decided to meet at the First Apostolic Church in Knoxville. That September Reggie asked Sara to marry him. He proposed to her with three dozen roses and a Coke. One of the roses just happened to be attached to a ring box. They wed on July 27th, 1985. His son was born a year later and his daughter in 1988.
Reggie’s career in Philadelphia was nearing it’s end in 1992 when tragedy struck. His good friend and soul of the Eagles defense Jerome Brown was tragically killed. The event affected Reggie’s life more than anything. White decided to hit the free agent market and had offers on the table from every NFL team. He chose the most unlikely of places, little Green Bay, which was known as the Siberia of the NFL since the Lombardi days. White signed and promised that the Packers would win the Super bowl in five years. They did. In 1996, White had the half of his life when he sacked New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe three times in Super bowl XXXI, sealing the win for Green Bay.
Reggie would play in 13 consecutive Pro Bowls (1985-1998) before retiring following the 1998 season. He came back to play one season for the Carolina Panthers and retired once again. Reggie finished his career playing 232 games, registering 1,112 total tackles, forcing 33 fumbles and 198.0 career sacks (2nd all-time).
Reggie’s name was scarred after a speech he made in front of the Wisconsin State legislature in 1998. During the talk, Reggie forthrightly presented the biblical position on many problems facing our world, including greed, sexual immorality, race relations, and obscene movies and music. In comparing the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement, he said, “Homosexuality is a decision. It’s not a race.” His comments created an uproar. Reggie’s words were reported in the national press, particularly his comments on homosexuality, and once homosexual activists started branding him an “extremist” and “bigot,” some of these legislators publicly said they were “appalled” or “shocked” at the speech. Worth noting is that the few homosexuals in the legislature were not among those expressing shock, and Reggie says one even defended his right to say what he believed.
Through it all, Reggie stood firm. “I’m not going to sell out,” he said. “I’m not going to back off what I know God has put on my heart to share. God owns a whole lot more than CBS could ever give me.”
Recently, however, Reggie said that saying that in front of the legislature was the biggest mistake he ever made. Reggie wished he could take those words back. He was beginning to learn Hebrew, he wanted to read the bible scriptures for himself in their original version, discounting everything he had been told in hear/say. In fact Reggie’s name is still bruised from his original words but realize, he was a changed man.
White was a public figure in Tennessee, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. People loved him. He became the mentor to many so-called strangers during his time on this Earth. Wisconsin residents raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild his church after it burned down. People wanted to help him to help others. They wanted to be around him.
Seeing on the television Sunday that Reggie had died was a shot to the heart. You truly missed him and wished he was still here. He was more than the savior of the Green Bay Packers, he was a mentor and will be remembered as he should by many people.
I would like to send my sincerest condolences to the White family, his teammates and the Christian community.
RIP Reggie White (1961-2004)
