White identifies the Panthers

(repeating info from a guy who listened to an interview with LenDale White on Sirius Radio)

When asked about the rumor that a team told him not to run the forty at the USC Pro Day, LenDale White identified a Panthers coach as the source of the advice (no names, sorry).

The explanation, however, is not as sinister as the press has made it sound.

They were discussing his hamstring issues, and essentially advised him that if he believed there was a chance he might aggravate the problem, it would be okay with them if he didn't run the forty. they already had plenty of game film on him, and would put a higher priority on that in evaluating him than they would on a timed speed.

My guess is when they said that, they didn't foresee the s--t storm it would cause.

To me, that doesn't really give anymore indication of whether they plan on taking him or not. It's just good advice that got repeatedly badly and spun the wrong way in some media outlets. They didn't tell him not to run. They essentially told him it was more important to stay healthy than it was to have a 40 time on record.

Turns out it was the Panthers. I'm surprised, but the explanation makes sense.

 

Except that White didn't pass on the 40 because his hamstring was still injured. The combine was a while ago. The real reason he passed is because of all that extra weight, which undoubtedly would have made his time slower than people would expect (and he wasn't that fast to begin with). A 4.65+ would have made him just as likely to slip out of the first round.


But yeah, it sure does seem like we have a lot of interest in him. *sigh*

 

He's a fat bastard. The only time someone deserves a Bus comparison is when they actually do something like the Bus. Until I see that, he's a fat bastard with his priorities wrong.

 

bigger *sigh* when we trade up to secure him

 

NFL | White does not like Clarett comparisons
Wed, 12 Apr 2006 0636 -0700

Bill Williamson, of the Denver Post, reports USC RB LenDale White does not like the comparisons being made of him to former NFL RB Maurice Clarett. "I am not Maurice Clarett," White said upon his return to Denver, where he will attempt to rehabilitate his injured hamstring and bruised image in the next couple of weeks. "I never violated team rules. I never robbed anyone," he said. "I just haven't run a 40-yard dash and I gained five pounds. That's all that has happened." White, who played at 252 pounds in the Rose Bowl national championship game against Texas, weighed 244 at USC's pro day. He was 238 at the combine. "I'd be shocked if I'm not a first-round pick," White said. "Some people say top 10, some people say second round. It's just talk. Nobody knows."

 

To me, this doesn't really speak to his reasons for not running as much as it does our reasons for saying something like this to him. It wasn't "don't run so we can get you" like it's been portrayed. It was "better to stay healthy than be timed."

There's no implicit promise that we want him contained in that advice. It's just advice.

As far as the whole "they'll replace me in four years" thing, I took that as "if you don't perform, you're replacable."

 

Jerome Bettis wasn't that great for a lot of his career. He tended to be a guy who ran strong in the regular season and faded come playoff time. In the last few years, he got used less in the regular season, so it wasn't as much of an issue.

For the record, I'm still undecided on whether I'd want White or not. And I'm not convinced he's the guy the Panthers are targeting as their pick either.

 

Assuming that we told him not to run for some reason - and assumin that he listened to us and trusted us then why wouldn;t we just tell him to put on some extra weight, tank his lifts, and be a shit during USC workouts to ensure that he dropped to us?

 

It would make him pretty dumb if you ask me (which nobody did), afer all the stories from past draftees about teams promising to take them that didn't.

 

Technically, they didn't tell him "not to run".

What they told him that his health was more important than his 40 time, and that they put more weight on game performance than they did on him running a sprint. By the time it got to national media, it was reported as telling him not to run so he'd fall to us, but that wasn't really the way it was at all.

He could still have decided to run. He didn't. Whether it was for this or some other reason, including his own laziness, only he knows.