Interpreting Roddy White’s Comments

Roddy White has a penchant for making inflammatory comments. Lately things have been fairly quiet with the Falcons wide receiver, but a few days ago he made some comments that seemed bizarrely out of character for him. Here is what White said:  “I know that sounds crazy, but we’ve got other guys out there that can play,” White said. “Julio [Jones] is going to be a big part of the offense this year. Harry [Douglas] is going to do wonders in the slot. We have to maximize our talent and get the ball in everyone’s hands.”

Falcons fans were scratching their heads, and other pundits from around the league were either applauding him for his selflessness or condemning him for not wanting to be the #1 receiver in the Falcons offense. Like most things that Roddy White says, it was completely blown out of proportion, and is not important. I’ll tell you what I mean.

Roddy White is seeing the playbook. He is seeing how talented Julio Jones really is, how Dirk Koetter is planning on using Harry Douglas, that Michael Turner/Jason Snelling/Jacquizz Rodgers will continue to get their touches, and that he will no longer get targeted 150 times a season anymore. On top of just realizing that he will no longer be the focal point of the passing game (which is half of the balance of playing offense), he realizes that it is good for the team.

I think this is probably the most selfless thing that we have seen yet from Roddy White. Nobody has ever accused him of being an awful person, but he has certainly not been without some faults. Early in his career, he did not maintain his weight, ballooned up, and was very unproductive. He took four seasons to realize his full potential. However, now he is taking his team vision further than ever. As he is aging he is gaining in wisdom and understanding the truth that it does not matter as much who is scoring the touchdowns, as it matters that the team is scoring touchdowns. Don’t get me wrong, Roddy White will still get his, and still have around 90 catches for 1300+ yards and 10 Touchdowns, but he is prepared to let others do some of the damage. And that’s just marvelous.