USC-Texas, 10 years later: LenDale White and what happened after fourth-and-two
DENVER - LenDale White rips open a pack of cheap cigars, packs in some green leaves and rolls a blunt.
Marijuana is legal in Colorado, and White aches in his head, back and places where a surgeon's scalpel can't touch. A little weed now and then takes the edge off, so he will smoke a bit later and avoid the dark temptation of pills.
He has been hesitant to say that publicly because people make snap judgments without knowing him. They think: Overweight. They think: Loud.
They think fourth and two.
Screw it, he says.
A lot of what he is willing to discuss today he has been hesitant to say, but he's not embarrassed anymore.
"I'm to the point where, man, I'm just ... I'm doing what makes me happy, period," White says.
Happiness is always a little tougher this time of year. It's Labor Day, and the NFL opens in three days. College football began in earnest the previous weekend.
White, a former USC running back, loves football - loves it - even though it pains him. Even though it makes him say things like: "I'm depressed about football every day."
Two weeks from Labor Day - this Saturday - USC will play Texas for the first time since Jan. 4, 2006, when the Longhorns were able to mount a late four-quarter rally that made them national champions. The game reopens painful memories for USC, but for White, the raw
