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| Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jason White announces his retirement from football Thursday at Baptist Sports Park in Nashville |
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Posted: 1:26 PM Aug 11, 2005
Last Updated: 1:26 PM Aug 11, 2005
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NASHVILLE, TN, Aug. 11, 2005 -- Jason White, former 2003 Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award winner and 2004 recipient of the Maxwell, (his second) Davey O’Brien, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards, announced to members of the Nashville media on Thursday that he was deciding to retire from the game he will always be remembered for.
After suffering severe ACL injuries in both knees during his collegiate career, the now 25-year old White came to the realization that his body can no longer sustain the rigors of the game he loves.
Pointing to both his head and his heart, White told reporters that he still has the passion for the game where it counts, but the pain in his knees have finally become too much to bear.
“It’s always been a dream of mine,” White said. “But there are certain things that won’t allow me to chase that dream, and it is kind of out my hands at this point. It’s been a great opportunity, and I can’t thank the Titans enough for giving me this opportunity.
“I've always had trouble, even in the summer, dropping back, when practice wasn't everyday,” White added. “And now that practice was everyday, it got to the point where one of my knees was just super sore so I started favoring the other one, and then the other one started hurting. I took a couple of days off this week and there hasn't been a change. Sometimes I think that you've got to swallow your pride a little bit and know when you're done.”
During a decision that was obviously very difficult for White to make on his own, he consoled those he has always looked up to.
“I definitely talked to family members, coaches, just on what they thought,” he stated. “They're all very supportive of whatever I decided.”
Those who have gotten to know White in his short time with the Titans have all come to the same perception of him as a person -- that he is a stand-up guy and a gentleman. Certainly a man that could easily be prideful, White carries himself with an aura of humility. And besides winning every major college award given to a quarterback, the greatest award bestowed to a college player, and being named College Player of the Year by the Associated Press, Sporting News, CNNSI.com, and Sports Illustrated, White’s legacy as one of the best college quarterbacks will be forever preserved in annals of college football.
“That's a small fraternity, and I'm very proud to be in it,” White said, in regards to winning the Heisman. “It was something that happened in college, it's in the past, but it's something that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.”
The knees aside, White was asked if he thought he had the talent to become a quarterback in the NFL. And while his time was short-lived, he credited Steve McNair, Billy Volek, and Titans coaches for the time they invested in him.
“In the short amount of time I have been here, I've learned from Steve (McNair), Billy (Volek), Coach Johnson and Coach Chow,” White said. “There's so much you can learn. One thing that kind of stood out to me when I first got here was my arm strength. It was a big question. Coach [Craig] Johnson worked with me a little bit and showed me what I was doing. I corrected that over the summer, and it got a little better during camp.”
As far as what he will pursue now, White wants to stay close to football, possibly as a coach.
“That's definitely an opportunity that I'm looking into,” he said. “Over the next week or so I'm sure I'll have something in mind. Coaching is definitely something I want to look into.”
By his side during the entire press conference, head coach Jeff Fisher had this to say about White:
“We made a commitment to him when we signed him that he was going to get a chance to play,” Fisher stated. “Obviously we fully intended on keeping that commitment. Had it not been an issue with the knees, he would've played and played quite a bit. There's no telling what happens after that. Look at his numbers and look what he's done. He's been able to move offenses and win games. You don't necessarily at the (quarterback) position have to be the most athletic or the most gifted or have the strongest arm. You have to move an offense and you have to have the intangibles and that's what he's had. He's proven that in a great college career.”
The entire Tennessee Titans organization wishes nothing but the best for one of the best college quarterbacks ever to play, Jason White.
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