No. 78 | |||||
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Position: | Defensive end | ||||
Personal information | |||||
Born: | Hampton, Virginia, U.S. | July 30, 1949||||
Died: | June 6, 2008 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 58)||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||
Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||
Career information | |||||
High school: | James Madison (Dallas, Texas) | ||||
College: | East Texas State | ||||
NFL draft: | 1971 / Round: 4 / Pick: 104 | ||||
Career history | |||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Dwight Lynn White (July 30, 1949 – June 6, 2008) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for 10 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).[1] He played college football for the East Texas State Lions. He won four Super Bowls with the Steelers as a member of their famed Steel Curtain defense.[2]
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) where he was teammates with future Super Bowl MVP Harvey Martin.[3][4]
Nicknamed "Mad Dog", because of his intensity,[5] 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,[6] 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, and also the first safety in Super Bowl history.[7] The Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings 16–6.
White finished his career with 46 quarterback sacks as recorded unofficially by the Steelers;[8] sacks were not an official NFL defensive stat until 1982.[9]
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.[10] A blood clot in his lung, the complication from back surgery, is the suspected cause of death.[6] 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.[11]