One of the New England Patriots' most dependable and well-liked players is hanging up his cleats.
Veteran running back James White announced his retirement Thursday on Instagram, ending an eight-year NFL career that included three Super Bowl titles and a Super Bowl LI MVP award. After playing sparingly as a rookie in 2014, White carved out a role as Tom Brady's top pass-catching threat in the backfield while emerging as a team leader who was named captain multiple times.
White had a very strong reputation in the Patriots' locker room, so it was no surprise that several of his former teammates showed him love on social media following his announcement Thursday. Here's a sampling, with more tributes likely to come:
- Patriots RB Damien Harris: "it’s been a pleasure, love you my brother❤️"
- Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne: "You will be missed bro! Congrats on a phenomenal year!"
- Patriots WR Jakobi Meyers: "The real 🐐…Preciate u bro"
- Patriots DB Adrian Phillips: "Sweet feet da legend!! Happy I was able to share the field with you bro✊🏾✊🏾"
- Patriots LB Matt Judon: "Enjoy you next life my boy. You deserve it 🍾🍾🙏🏾🙏🏾"
- Patriots OL Trent Brown: "Congrats on a hell of a career family"
- Patriots LB Mack Wilson: "Congrats on a great career OG! 🙏🏾❤️"
- Ex-Patriots RB Brandon Bolden: "Congrats bro"
- Ex-Patriots safety Duron Harmon: "Congrats on a great career. It was a pleasure taking the field with you. Love you and your family bro 🙏🏿"
- Ex-Patriots TE Jacob Hollister: "Congrats brother 🙏🏽"
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Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl running back Jonathan Taylor -- who followed White at Wisconsin -- also gave White a shout-out on Instagram, "Congrats bro….learned so much on how to do things the right way! 👐🏾🦨"
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick honored White with glowing statements, as well.
"James defines the term consummate professional," Belichick said in his statement. "His dependability, consistency, unselfishness and performance under pressure are elite. Combining great intelligence, quickness and elusiveness, James was a perfect fit for our pass offense.
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"While soft spoken, he brought exceptional leadership and competitive toughness to the team. He was a multi-year team captain and one of the most respected, best team players I have ever coached."
That's very high praise from a coach who's been in the NFL since the 1970s -- and well-deserved.
