CHARLES WHITE COURTESY OF RICH CROW

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George Bozeka
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Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:48 pm

CHARLES WHITE COURTESY OF RICH CROW

Post by George Bozeka »

>
> CHARLES RAYMOND WHITE (JANUARY 22, 1958 – JANUARY 11, 2023)
>
> FORMER BROWNS RUNNING BACK, 1979 HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER
> CHARLES WHITE DIES AT 64
>
> Former Browns running back Charles White, who won the 1979 Heisman
> Trophy, died of liver cancer Wednesday in Newport Beach, California,
> USC announced [1]. White was 64.
>
> White was born in Los Angeles, California [2]. He graduated from San
> Fernando High School [3] in San Fernando, California [4], where as a
> track and field [5] athlete he won the 330 yard low hurdles at the CIF
> California State Meet [6] over future Olympic Gold medalist Andre
> Phillips [7].[2] [8] He was also a standout high school football [9]
> player.
>
> White, who led the Trojans to the 1978 national championship, remains
> the school’s career rushing yards leader with 6,245.
>
> He scored 49 touchdowns.
>
> He lettered four seasons at USC and twice was a unanimous
> All-American. White set 22 NCAA, Pac-10, USC and Rose Bowl records.
>
> He was a three-time all-conference first-teamer, was USC’s team MVP
> in 1978 and ’79 and finished fourth in Heisman voting as a junior.
>
> He was USC’s rushing leader in 1977 (1,478 yards), 1978 (1,859
> yards) and 1979 (2,050 yards), as well as the school’s total offense
> leader in 1978 (1,854 yards), scoring leader in 1978 (86 points) and
> 1979 (114 points) and kickoff return leader in 1976 (295 yards).
>
> White had 31 career 100-yard rushing games, including 10 in 1979.
>
> He is a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, having won player of the
> game honors twice.
>
> The Trojans won three Rose Bowls and four bowl games with White.
>
> He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and the
> College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He made the Pac-12
> All-Century Team in 2015.
>
> White also was a hurdler on USC’s 1979 track team.
>
> The Browns made White a first-round pick (pick #27) in 1980, and he
> spent five years in Cleveland before four seasons with the Rams. His
> number with the Browns was: #25
>
> 1980 - QB Brian Sipe pitches to RB Charles White - Away gm vs T Bay
> w Joe D leading -M Pruitt blocking & R Rucker falling down
>
> White was released by the Browns before the start of the 1985 season
> [10]. White later acknowledged that he struggled with cocaine [11]
> addiction during this period.
>
> In 1987, White led the league in rushing (1,374 yards) and rushing
> touchdowns (11) in earning Pro Bowl and
>
> All-Pro honors.
>
> White finished his NFL career with 3,075 rushing yards, and 23
> rushing touchdowns, along with 114 receptions [12], 860 yards, and one
> receiving touchdown.
>
> He returned to USC in 1990 as a special assistant to the athletic
> director.
> In 1993, he became an assistant football coach in charge of the Trojan
> running backs and held that position through 1997 before taking an
> administrative job at the school.
>
> PERSONAL LIFE AND DRUG USE
>
> During his years at USC, White struggled with cocaine and marijuana
> use. In a 1987 Sports Illustrated [13] article, he admitted to smoking
> marijuana daily at USC and snorted his first line of cocaine a few
> weeks before the 1977 Rose Bowl [14].
>
> He met fellow USC student Judi McGovern and the two dated throughout
> their time at USC, eventually marrying and having a daughter. However,
> White continued his cocaine use through college and on into his early
> NFL career with the Browns.
>
> White checked into drug rehab in 1982 and was clean for three years.
> Even so, the Browns cut him in 1985 and he was picked up on waivers by
> the Los Angeles Rams [15], where he was reunited with John Robinson
> [16], his former college coach at USC.
>
> White soon had a short relapse into cocaine, but got clean again until
> one night in August 1987, where he and a friend did lines until White
> was arrested. However, Robinson bailed him out of jail and agreed to
> keep him on the team if he stayed clean.
>
> White responded with the best season of his career in the
> strike-affected 1987 season, running for 339 yards in the three "scab
> games" after the Rams traded Eric Dickerson [17] and then for 100
> yards in five straight games afterwards.
>
> White and McGovern eventually divorced. White sold his 1979 Heisman
> trophy [18] in 2008 to settle tax debts. White had five children,
> three daughters and two sons.
>
> White is survived by his ex-wife Judianne White-Basch, their children
> Nicole White, Julian White, Tara White, Ashton White and Sophia White,
> and granddaughter Giovanna Hemmen.
>
> A Los Angeles Times article on July 17, 2022 by Bill Plaschke
> describes White's struggles with dementia and how he was living in an
> Orange County, CA assisted living facility as of 2022.
>
> White could still recall his football days, but had issues with
> day-to-day functioning; the signs were that his dementia was caused by
> his career in football.
>
> PERSONAL INFORMATION
>
> BORN:
> January 22, 1958
> Los Angeles, California [2]
>
> DIED:
> January 11, 2023 (aged 64)
>
> HEIGHT:
> 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
>
> WEIGHT:
> 190 lb (86 kg)
>
> CAREER INFORMATION
>
> HIGH SCHOOL:
> San Fernando (CA) [3]
>
> COLLEGE:
> USC [19] (1976–1979)
>
> NFL DRAFT:
> 1980 [20] / Round: 1 / Pick: 27
>
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1]
> https://usctrojans.com/news/2023/1/11/f ... -dies.aspx
> [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_California
> [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fernando_High_School
> [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Fernando,_California
> [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_and_field
> [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIF_California_State_Meet
> [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Phillips
> [8]
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_W ... ite_note-2
> [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_football
> [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_NFL_season
> [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine
> [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception ... _football)
> [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated
> [14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Rose_Bowl
> [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Rams
> [16]
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robi ... all_coach)
> [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Dickerson
> [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heisman_trophy
> [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USC_Trojans_football
> [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_NFL_Draft
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