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 [edit]
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 [edit]
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.
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]
- The Super Bowl An Official Retrospective, Ballantine Books, 2005.
External links [edit]
