FOXBORO — James White was extraordinarily grateful for the chance the Patriots gave him to aim a comeback after struggling a devastating hip harm final season.
But in the long run, it wasn’t to be.
During his emotional retirement ceremony Tuesday evening on the Putnam Club inside Gillette Stadium, White mentioned he just about knew a pair weeks earlier than coaching camp he couldn’t return to being the participant he as soon as was.
“I kind of plateaued, where (I knew) this is what my body was going to feel like from here on out,” mentioned White. “Could I have gone out there and played? Probably.”
In his thoughts, nevertheless, being half or three-quarters of the participant he was simply didn’t reduce it.
“I didn’t want to put the team in a position where they were expecting a certain type of player, a certain guy you were used to seeing out there, and not to be that guy,” he mentioned. “It was laborious for me, and I knew it might be laborious for them to see.
“So I made the best decision for myself and my family.”
White, a three-time Super Bowl champion, completed his profession in eighth place on the membership’s all-time receptions record with 381 and ranked second amongst Patriots operating backs, behind Kevin Faulk, who had 431. His 3,278 receiving yards are second among the many staff’s operating backs, additionally behind Faulk, who had 3,701 yards.
The whole Patriots operating again room (Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson, J.J. Taylor, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris), former Pats operating backs coach Ivan Fears, together with a majority of the staff and training employees have been readily available to honor White.
Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft kicked off the proceedings by calling White a “great ambassador on the field and off the field as well.”
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick introduced some levity, recalling his first publicity to White throughout the NFL’s Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, and saying the again’s numbers weren’t “too impressive.”
“He wasn’t big, wasn’t fast, couldn’t jump high,” Belichick mentioned, drawing laughter across the room. “But what those numbers don’t measure is intelligence, toughness, heart, being a good teammate, dependability, and that overrode all. … He had great hands, great quickness, a great instinct for the game, and played the best games at the biggest times.”
White mentioned he couldn’t have discovered a greater staff than the Patriots.
“It was the perfect fit for me,” he mentioned. “There was a high standard that was always set.”
Coming from a household the place his dad was a police officer and his mother a probation specialist, the tradition suited him.
Naturally, his favourite reminiscence was Super Bowl LI, and the unbelievable comeback from 28-3 right down to the Falcons, as White completed the deal, moving into the tip zone on a 2-yard run in time beyond regulation. In all, he scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion in that recreation, setting a file for many factors in a Super Bowl with 20.
White mentioned he hoped to be remembered right here as somebody who was “a good human being, first and foremost. That’s what I tried to pride myself on being, a respectable person, and an accountable person.”
He was humbled by all the sort phrases and testimonials offered by his teammates in wake of his resolution to retire.
“These guys shaped me for who I am,” he mentioned. “Whether I’ve known them one year, a few weeks, eight years, they all impacted me. … I’m extremely grateful for all of these guys.”
White bought teary on the finish of the ceremony, when requested about his late father, Tyrone, who was killed in a automotive accident two years in the past.
“My dad, and things like that, you just kind of learn to deal with it in a sense. But it’s an empty void that doesn’t really go away,” White mentioned, choking again tears. “I’m extremely grateful to my parents, how they raised me. I hope I made them proud.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com