49 Facts About Reggie White

1.

Reginald Howard White was an American professional football defensive end in the National Football League for 15 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s.

2.

Reggie White played college football for the University of Tennessee, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American.

3.

Reggie White was selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, NFL 1990s All-Decade Team, and the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.

4.

Reggie White is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

5.

Reggie White played high school football at Howard High School under Coach Robert Pulliam, a former defensive lineman at Tennessee.

6.

Reggie White was rated the number one recruit in Tennessee by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

7.

Reggie White played college football at Tennessee from 1980 to 1983.

8.

Reggie White was awarded the "Andy Spiva Award", given annually to the Vols' most improved defensive player.

9.

Reggie White had 10 tackles and two sacks, one of which resulted in a safety, against Memphis State, and was named the team's "outstanding defensive player" for the game.

10.

Reggie White was named a Preseason All-American going into the 1982 season, but was consistently bothered by an ankle injury, and his production dropped off.

11.

Reggie White was a consensus All-American, SEC Player of the Year, and a Lombardi Award finalist.

12.

Reggie White played for Memphis for two seasons, starting in 36 games.

13.

At the time Reggie White was still an unproven entity, but his anonymity did not last long.

14.

Reggie White joined the Eagles after the 1985 season had begun, missing the first few games.

15.

Reggie White played with the Eagles for eight seasons, Reggie White played in 121 games and picked up 124 sacks, becoming the Eagles' all-time sack leader.

16.

Reggie White set the Eagles' regular-season record with 21 sacks in a single season.

17.

Reggie White became the only player ever to accumulate 20 or more sacks in just 12 games.

18.

Reggie White set an NFL regular-season record during 1987 by averaging the most sacks per game, with 1.75.

19.

Reggie White was voted by ESPN Sportsnation as the greatest player in Eagles' franchise history.

20.

Reggie White was signed by the Green Bay Packers and agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth $17 million.

21.

Reggie White notched up another 68.5 sacks to become, at the time, the Packers' all-time leader in that category.

22.

Reggie White was just as valued for his role as a team leader.

23.

In 1998, Reggie White was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.

24.

Reggie White had five and a half sacks and one forced fumble while with the team.

25.

Reggie White again retired at the end of the 2000 season.

26.

At the time of his retirement, Reggie White was the NFL's all-time sacks leader with 198.

27.

Reggie White recorded three interceptions, which he returned for 79 yards.

28.

Reggie White recovered 19 fumbles, which he returned for 137 yards and three touchdowns.

29.

Reggie White was named an All-Pro for 13 of his 15 seasons, including eight as a first-team selection.

30.

Reggie White is considered by many to be one of the best defensive players in NFL history.

31.

Reggie White appeared on screen at two professional wrestling events, wrestling one match.

32.

On May 18,1997, Reggie White wrestled his only professional wrestling match for WCW at Slamboree.

33.

Reggie White wrestled fellow NFL alumnus Steve McMichael.

34.

Reggie White received a warm response from the professional wrestling crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina, but nonetheless lost to McMichael after being hit with a steel Zero Halliburton briefcase secretly given to McMichael by his Four Horsemen teammate, Jeff Jarrett.

35.

Reggie White became involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes while at the University of Tennessee, and expressed an interest in becoming an evangelist as early as his sophomore year in 1981.

36.

Reggie White became an ordained Baptist minister during this period.

37.

Reggie White had acquired the nickname "Minister of Defense" by the time he was a senior.

38.

In October 2003, Reggie White was interviewed by Messianic teacher and televangelist Michael Rood, and he discussed his studies of Torah.

39.

Reggie White went on to co-produce Rood's half-hour "A Rood Awakening From Israel" TV programs.

40.

Reggie White was touched by the African American church arson scares during the mid-1990s.

41.

The Inner City Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Reggie White was an associate minister, burned to the ground in 1996.

42.

Reggie White played protagonist Reggie Knox, a football player who retires after the 1996 season to become a 10th-grade history teacher and head coach of a high school football team in Portland, Oregon.

43.

Reggie White became an ally of organizations opposed to homosexuality; he appeared in a newspaper advertising campaign to convince gays and lesbians that they could "cease" their homosexuality.

44.

Reggie White became the first player in NFL history to have his number officially retired by multiple teams.

45.

Reggie White was posthumously elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot on February 4,2006.

46.

Reggie White was enshrined at a ceremony on August 5,2006, in Canton, Ohio.

47.

Reggie White was introduced by their son, Jeremy White, who released the first copies of his autobiography, In His Shadow: Growing Up With Reggie White, during the Hall of Fame weekend in honor of his father.

48.

Reggie White was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

49.

The official sign hanging for Reggie White Boulevard took place on Monday, December 8,2008, at 2 pm at the intersection of 20th and Carter Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee.