How Bucs RB White went from sleeping on floors to the NFL - ESPN

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White and his mother, Rochelle, still remember that tearful car ride home following the Thomas A. Simone Memorial Football Award banquet.

It was White's senior year of high school in 2016 and he didn't win the award, presented each year to the best high school player in Kansas City.

«You see how you feel now?» his mom told him. «Never let anyone make you feel this way again.'»

That car ride is the moment White, now 24 and in his second year in the NFL, leans on for when things don't go according to plan. It serves as a reminder to where he came from when he finally earned the Bucs' starting role, and how much he leaned on Rochelle, who he calls his Superwoman, as he navigated the path to becoming a professional football player.

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«I was hurt. I was hurt for sure,» White said. «I didn't even get voted as a finalist, I was a semifinalist.… I was already upset because I wasn't getting no [scholarship] offers.

»I felt like I let myself down, let my family down, let people down."

His mother told him, «There are going to be certain instances — key moments in your life, defining moments. This is going to be one of them.»

Seven years later, the second-year pro has ascended to starting running back for Tampa Bay, galvanized by a journey that included stops in Division II and junior college. He'll help lead the Bucs' rushing attack against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night (8:15 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime).

But on that