Atlanta wide receiver Roddy White has the numbers to more than justify his third consecutive Pro Bowl selection. He also has the attitude.
Not that attitude, mind you. Forget his Twitter wars and the regular pushing and shoving he gets involved in with opposing players (although some of that feistiness is a good thing).
Rather, White plays the game the right way, with a tenacious, hustling attitude emblematic of why the Atlanta Falcons are 12-3 and sit atop the NFC with one game to go. Yeah, he has a league-leading 109 receptions to go with his 1,327 yards (second in the league) and nine touchdown catches (tied for 10th).
But White likely has the league lead in forced fumbles by a wide receiver. Certainly among wideouts who don’t double as special teams guys.
White had one critical one this season in the victory over San Francisco in Week 4, when the Falcons came back in the final two minutes to win. He also had another one against San Francisco last season and nearly had one against Seattle two games ago.
“That’s just the way I play, all out and feisty,” White said. “We have to get the ball back, that’s what I’m thinking. We just gave up a possession for our offense and we have to get it back. I’m just thinking that way every time that happens. What can I do to get the ball back?”
Again, White is an example of how the Falcons, who are 6-2 in games decided by less than a touchdown this season, have to play. While the Falcons are good, they aren’t extraordinary. They’re a team built on doing little things very well.
White’s effort to get the ball back is a prime example.
“You might get a play like that once a career,” Atlanta coach Mike Smith said admiringly. “Really, that play was big for Roddy, but it was also really big for us as coaches and probably for coaches around the league because it was an example of just what we’re always talking about. Instead of just saying it, you can actually put that play up on the board and show players, ‘Hey, this can really happen if you work at it.’ ”
By comparison, Cincinnati’s Terrell Owens had the same situation in a Bengals loss earlier this season. However, rather than chase down the Miami defender, Owens walked off after the interception.
“That’s not me, I’m not ever giving up on a ball,” White said.
In high school, he won state championships in wrestling as a junior and senior. At the University of Alabama-Birmingham, White and his football teammates used to challenge each other regularly.
“We had a key to the lights at the practice field,” White said. “We’d start talking at each other and then go out to the field and run routes, the receivers and the defensive backs going at it.”
It caught the attention of a security guard.
“That guy used to pull up and watch us going at it.”
