New England Patriots RB James White ascended into the pantheon of Boston Championship Greats for his performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. White set records and could have won Most Valuable Player, if not for Tom Brady’s existence.
White penned a story for The Players’ Tribune talking about how he was initially uncomfortable with the spotlight granted by his Super Bowl heroics. White has spent the entirety of his football career as part of a committee and that was one of the reasons why he was a fit with the Patriots offense.
The fourth-year running back discussed the only change he would have made to the Patriots Super Bowl victory.
“You know it’s kind of funny, after we won last year, I had so many people mobbing me to get interviews that by the time I actually made it back to the locker room all my teammates had left the stadium to go celebrate somewhere else,” White wrote. “It was honestly kind of a bummer to walk in there expecting a party and not see anyone. I think that’s the only thing about the whole experience I might have changed. I really wish I could have celebrated right there with my teammates in the locker room after we won that game we worked so hard together to get to.”
White also shared one of his first moments with head coach Bill Belichick back in the summer of 2014.
“My first training camp as a rookie with New England, we were doing practice drills with the full team and I broke through for a long run...I was a little winded, but I didn’t want to miss any reps so I lined up for the next play. When the ball snapped, I started going right, then cut the ball back to my left and boom. I ran directly into a brick wall named Brandon Browner.
“I could tell it was a big hit not just because of how it felt, but because immediately the crowd went from cheering to saying, Oooooooooooooh...When I finally got back to my feet, I saw Coach Belichick walking towards me. I kind of figured he was going to tell me whatever I’d messed up. But when he got to me, he said kind of casually, in his voice that never really changes tone, ‘So one thing you’ll learn: The bigger they are, the harder they hit.’ And then he walked away.”
That’s one lesson White won’t soon forget.