Lorenzo White had a huge footprint on Spartans football

February 28, 2019 Carma Henry Local Sports 0

This is where it all started as a high school standout at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Lorenzo White giving back to his beloved Panthers. (Photo: Byler Henry/Westside Gazette)

White was named to the College Football Hall of Fame

Ray Ford, Detroit Free Press

Former Michigan State football running back Lorenzo White was named to the College Football Hall of Fame recently, joining a host of Sp artans greats. (The induction ceremony was held in New York on Dec. 10.) White stood 5 feet 11 in East Lansing, but had a big impact on the Spartans, taking them to the 1988 Rose Bowl in his senior season. As coach George Perles told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 1985, “We call him ‘Big Foot.’ He can gear down, let people go by him, then motor again,” referencing his size 12EE shoes.

White burst into the national spotlight by rushing for 2,066 yards as a sophomore in 1985. At the time, he was the fifth player in FBS history to rush for at least 2,000 yards (including bowl games). (31 FBS players have done it now, led by Barry Sanders’ 2,628 yards in 1988.) Nov. 14, 1987

(TOP) Lorenzo White rushed for 4,887 yards in four seasons at MSU – most of those during spectacular sophomore and senior seasons. *(Photo: Lansing State Journal file photo)*
(RIGHT) White runs around the USC defense to score MSU’s first touchdown in the Rose Bowl on Jan 1, 1988. *(Photo: Rod Sanford/Lansing State Journal)*

MSU 27, Indiana 3: White carried the ball a ridiculous 56 times (at 5.2 yards a carry) en route to 292 yards as the Spartans clinched their first Rose Bowl trip in more than 20 years.

Though it didn’t factor into the College Football Hall of Fame’s call, White had a productive career in the NFL. White spent eight years in the league — seven with the Oilers and one with the Browns — and made the Pro Bowl in 1992. That season, he rushed for 1,226 yards with the Oilers as Houston was eliminated from the playoffs by Buffalo in the biggest comeback in NFL playoff history.