Remind me not to ever piss off LenDale White. It seems as if media outlets across the country are itching to get some time with the unemployed former USC star who’s become the Sarah Palin/Joe Biden of the sports world; he might not actually be doing much lately, but, jeez the guy is going is always good for a few soundbites, isn’t he? LenDale finally spent time as a guest on Clay Travis’ show on 104-5 the Zone in Nashville to talk several issues. When discussing Athletic Director Mike Garrett’s pleas of ignorance regarding many of USC’s violations, LenDale was dismissive, saying:
“I don’t want to bad mouth nobody, but as big as this scale is and as much as they (the NCAA) saying somebody took, for you not to know anything is kind of unbelievable to me. I don’t know. If you’re the athletic director I’m pretty sure you get wind of something, that somebody’s put something in your ear. When I was going to school there, and we were partying too much on campus, coaches could show up at our dorm room and tell us to calm the partying down. But you can’t tell if somebody took a $750,000 home? I don’t know. It’s weird to me.”
Don’t think that LenDale let his former USC head coach Pete Carroll off the hook either. Much like Taylor Mays’ complaint after the draft, LenDale doesn’t think Carroll was up front with him regarding his release from the Seahawks:
“I was shocked. I’m still shocked. I would figure if there was a problem or anything needed to be said or done, that my old coach would grab me to the side and whisper something in my ear and tell me step it up or do something different. I would figure that.”
“Thursday (the day before the release) when I was leaving practice, Pete Carroll hugged me and told me everything was going well. I thought everything was fine. I went to Vegas, just having fun for Memorial Day weekend and then I get a call Friday morning telling me they’re going in another (direction). I never really got an explanation.”
“I actually called Pete and asked Pete what was going on. Pete never knows why anything, right? Pete, he beat around the bush. He just said it wasn’t going to work out. He didn’t really give me an answer. He didn’t give me a clear explanation.”
I can definitely understand White’s anger and frustration, but he also put himself in this situation. Ever since he was missing pre-draft interviews with the press, he’s had a reputation or being lackadaisical and lazy. That’s why, of course, White was booted into the second round of the 2006 draft even though many scouts felt that he had better pro potential than Bush. Getting yourself in line for a suspension by smoking pot in the off-season also probably didn’t help his reputation with anyone in the NFL, outside of Ricky Williams.
Regardless, remind me not to piss him off. Or if I do, remind me to roll him up a J immediately afterward.
Sources:
LenDale White On USC Probation, Pete Carroll’s Trust, & More [104-5 The Zone]
White Speaks [LA Daily News/Inside USC]
