Stanley Ray White (born October 24, 1949) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in 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) and

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). A defensive leader for the NFL's

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, White later became a analyst for televised games of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, successor to the Colts in the league. White was the first active player to sign with the USFL in 1983 and was named to the All-USFL team during that year.

Early life

White was born in

Dover, Ohio Dover is a city in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, along the Tuscarawas River. The population was 13,112 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Micropolitan statistical area, New Philadelphia–Dover ...

and grew up in

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...

. White attended Theodore Roosevelt High School. He was the only player in the history of Ohio High School sports to play in the state all-star games for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He was 1st team All State twice in football, All State in Basketball as a senior averaging 25 points a game, and All State in baseball playing catcher as a senior hitting 0.467 (He pitched a championship game and won 1-0 with 17 strikeouts). Against Ravenna his senior year he scored every way possible: He scored a touchdown and a two point conversion, kicked a field goal and an extra point, and tackled the quarterback in the end zone for a safety. His senior year ten Roosevelt players played both offense and defense, and six of those ended up playing in the NFL. White graduated in 1968.

Football career

College

White 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 ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he was an All-Big Ten and

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection. He also played baseball and basketball at OSU. When he left OSU he held the OSU records for career tackles, tackles in a season (1970), and tackles in a game (Michigan State 1970). He also briefly held the record for most extra points kicked in a season(1969).

NFL

White was selected in 1972, the 438th player out of 442 taken. White played for the

and the

. He was named First Team All NFL in 1975 by The Football News, and First Team All NFL in 1977 by The New York Daily News. White scored two touchdowns, both from interception returns and both for the Colts; the first was in 1973 against the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

from a

Dan Pastorini Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football for the Sa ...

interception, the second coming against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

from a Craig Morton interception in 1975. He was a UPI 1st Team All AFC linebacker in 1977. White still holds the single season NFL record for linebackers of eight interceptions in a season (1975), and is second all-time for linebackers with 34 career interceptions. He is third all-time in takeaways for linebackers with 49, behind

Jack Ham Jack Raphael Ham Jr. (born December 23, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He is considered one of the greatest outsi ...

and

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football f ...

. He was selected as a linebacker on the Baltimore Colts All-Time Team. He is also the only player n NFL history to have at least seven sacks and seven interceptions in a single season(1977-8 sacks,7 int). In fact only four times has a player had at 6 sacks and 6 interceptions in a season and White did it twice(1975,1977) Rodney Harrison and Dave Duerson are the other two. White left the NFL after the 1982 season.Nelson Coffin
"Former Colts Linebacker, Current Ravens Broadcaster Stan White Dishes on Baltimore's Football Franchise,"
''Baltimore Sun,'' Nov. 1, 2017.

USFL

Following his departure from the Lions, White played in the

(USFL) for the

Chicago Blitz The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Team history The Blitz were one of the twelve charter ...

and the

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) that existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. ...

, becoming the first active NFL player to sign with the new league. He was All-USFL, and was also selected to the Madden All-Time USFL Team.

Broadcasting and other endeavors

Since 2006, White has worked as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for the

' radio broadcasts, teaming with Gerry Sandusky, who does the play-by-play, and former Ravens player Qadry Ismail. He also contributes to other programming on Baltimore station WBAL-AM. He previously worked for ESPN, NBC Radio NFL games, and Home Team Sports. White is a lawyer, graduating magna cum laude from the

University of Baltimore School of Law The University of Baltimore School of Law, or the UB School of Law, is one of the four colleges that make up the University of Baltimore, which is part of the University System of Maryland. The UBalt School of Law is one of only two law schools i ...

in 1978. He went at night during the season and full-time in the off season, completing his degree in four years. His first job was with Ron Shapiro, noted sports lawyer. His classmates included sports agents Tom Condon and Tony Agnone. White's book, ''If These Walls Could Talk: Baltimore Ravens'', published by Triumph Books, was released in October 2017.

Personal life

White and his wife have two daughters and a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Stan 1949 births Living people American football linebackers Arizona Wranglers players Baltimore Colts players Baltimore Ravens announcers Chicago Blitz players College football announcers Detroit Lions players NFL announcers Ohio State Buckeyes football players Sportspeople from Kent, Ohio Players of American football from Portage County, Ohio Sportspeople from Dover, Ohio Theodore Roosevelt High School (Kent, Ohio) alumni