Dwight White

Dwight White
No. 78
Position: Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1949-07-30)July 30, 1949
Place of birth: Hampton, Virginia
Date of death: June 6, 2008(2008-06-06) (aged 58)
Place of death: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College: East Texas State
NFL Draft: 1971 / Round: 4 / Pick: 104
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions: 4
Games: 126
Player stats at NFL.com

Dwight Lynn White (July 30, 1949 – June 6, 2008) was an American football defensive end who played for ten seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL)[1] and was a member of the famed Steel Curtain defense.[2]

Life and career

Born in Hampton, Virginia, White graduated from James Madison High School in Dallas, Texas and played college football at East Texas State University (since renamed Texas A&M University–Commerce).[3]

Pittsburgh Steelers

Nicknamed "Mad Dog", because of his intensity,[4] White became a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end. White spent much of the week leading up to Super Bowl IX in a hospital, suffering from pneumonia; he lost 20 pounds and was not expected to play in the game. However, he did play,[5] and accounted for the only scoring in the first half when he sacked Fran Tarkenton in the end zone for a safety — the first points in Steelers' history in a championship game.[6] The Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16–6.

White finished his career with 46 quarterback sacks,[7] however sacks were not an official defensive stat until 1982.[8]

Steelers owner Dan Rooney called White "one of the greatest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform"[2] and he was named to the Steelers All-Time team in 1982 and again in 2007. He retired after the 1980 season and went on to become a stock broker.

Death

Dwight White died of complications that arose from an earlier surgery.[9] A blood clot in his lung, the complication from back surgery, is the suspected cause of death.[5] On February 1, 2010, his family filed a wrongful death suit against the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and three doctors, claiming that his death had been caused by medical negligence.[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Tribune-Review (2008-06-06). "Steelers' Dwight White dead at 58". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  2. 1 2 "Dwight White". Steelers.com. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  3. ↑ "Dwight White Bio". Steelers.com. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  4. ↑ Associated Press (2008-06-07). "Dwight White, 58, Mad Dog of Vaunted Steel Curtain, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  5. 1 2 Dulac, Gerry (2008-06-07). "Steel Curtain's 'Mad Dog' dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  6. ↑ "Pittsburgh fixes error in Super Bowl proclamation". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. February 10, 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  7. ↑ "Steelers Records" (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  8. ↑ "History Of The Sack Statistic". Packers.com. August 13, 2009. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  9. ↑ "Former Steeler Dwight White dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  10. ↑ Nereim, Vivian (2010-02-01). "Lawsuit filed in former Steeler player's death". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  • The Super Bowl An Official Retrospective, Ballantine Books, 2005.
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