Ricky Leon White III (born February 6, 2002) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

and

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Footb ...

and was selected by the Seahawks in the seventh round of the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

Early life

White was born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and attended Marietta High School in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, where he hauled in 55 receptions for 1,006 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior. He committed to play

for the

College career

Michigan State

In week 10 of the 2020 season, White hauled in eight receptions for 196 yards and a touchdown in an upset win over

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, with his 196 receiving yards setting the Michigan State freshman record. He finished the 2020 season with ten catches for 223 yards and one touchdown in three games. In 2021, White did not appear in any games. After the season, he entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

UNLV

White transferred to play for the

. In the 2022 season opener, he hauled in eight receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns in a win over

Idaho State Idaho State University (ISU) is a public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations in Meridian, Idaho ...

. White finished the 2022 season with 51 receptions for 619 yards and four touchdowns. In week 10 of the 2023 season, he notched eight catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in a 56-14 win over

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. White finished the 2023 regular season with 88 receptions for 1,483 yards and eight touchdowns. For his performance on the season, White was named third team All-American by the Associated Press.

Statistics

Professional career

White was selected in the seventh round (238th overall) by the

in the

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioMichigan State Spartans bioUNLV Rebels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Ricky 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio Players of American football from Marietta, Georgia American football wide receivers American football return specialists Michigan State Spartans football players UNLV Rebels football players Seattle Seahawks players