KC homecoming gives Rachaad White ‘surreal’ experience in Bucs-Chiefs MNF matchup

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night, a small subsection of the stands will be rooting for a hometown kid. Already in his third NFL season, Buccaneers running back Rachaad White will make his first appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, a new experience for the Kansas City, Missouri native.

White, a product of Center High School, took an unusual path to the NFL. Lightly recruited out of high school, he was a 0-star recruit according to 247 Sports’ consensus rankings for the 2017 class.

For the Yellow Jackets, White was the team’s best running back and best wide receiver. As a senior in 2017, he accounted for more than 2,000 yards of offense, earning him a first-team Class 3 All-State selection, but no Division I college offers to choose from.

As a result, his college career began at Division II Nebraska Kearney.

“You just have to find what you’re passionate about,” White said. – For me it was football.

White’s football passion manifested itself in frustration when he did not play during his first year at the Division II level. He dressed in a red shirt and then decided to move to Mt. San Antonio College, a junior college just under 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

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When White left Mt. San Antonio, he was the No. 3 ranked transfer running back in junior college. A release from UCLA led him to Arizona State, where a freshman class that featured several four-star running backs largely overshadowed his arrival in Tempe, Arizona. But when games began in a COVID-shortened four-game 2020 season, White averaged 10.0 yards per carry. carry for ASU, making NFL teams aware of his skills.

As a redshirt junior in 2021, White rushed for over 1,000 yards with the Sun Devils and also had more than 450 receiving yards, adding 16 touchdowns in 11 games to end up as a third-round pick of the Buccaneers in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Now White returns to Kansas City to play a football game in a stadium he never had the opportunity to visit growing up. One of four boys raised by a single mother, White never got the opportunity to see former Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles play in person.

“It’s very exciting, I’ve never actually been inside Arrowhead Stadium,” White said Saturday in a video call with KCTV5. “I grew up, was born and raised (in Kansas City), but I’ve never been to a game. I’ve never even met a Kansas City Chiefs player, so it just feels surreal to me. I remember my brothers came home from Tony Gonzalez football camps and I was just too young to go.

On Monday night, when the undefeated Chiefs take on the Buccaneers, White will suit up for his 42nd career NFL game. He’ll do it less than 10 miles from the home he grew up in.

“For me to be able to come home and witness that, it’s a surreal moment,” the 25-year-old said. “It really hasn’t hit me yet. I just know walking into that stadium and walking out of that tunnel, it’s all going to hit me.”

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White can recall Jamaal Charles’ 5-touchdown performance against the Raiders from memory. It was Charles’ play that served as the inspiration for White growing up wanting to be a playmaker.

“You play tackle football with your siblings and all I really knew was running back,” said White, who totaled over 1,500 yards of total offense in 2023 and also scored nine touchdowns for the Buccaneers. “That’s all I wanted to do was catch the ball and be able to make people miss or pass the ball to me and be able to make people miss.”

On Sunday afternoon, when the Buccaneers arrived in Kansas City, White met with Mayor Quinton Lucas to discuss growing up in Kansas City, White’s support of the local YMCAs and his support locally with youth organizations.

Too young to accompany his brothers to youth camps with Chiefs stars growing up, now White is the one hosting the events. In June, he hosted his first youth football camp at Center High School, inviting kids between first and eighth grade to learn from him.

“I have a lot of love for the city,” White said of his hometown. “What I’m trying to do is build a lot of things and come back and be able to give back to it as much as possible. Obviously, I’m playing in Tampa now, but (Kansas City) will always have the greatest impact and hold the most special place in my heart.”

On the latest edition of Monday Night Football, White said he hopes to put on a show for the Kansas City crowd.

“It’s going to be a lot,” White said of his support section Monday night at Arrowhead. “I’m just blessed and thankful that those who haven’t gotten a chance to see me play in person — which is a good amount — will get to see me play in person at the highest level.

“It’s a huge chance and opportunity for me to go out there and have fun, play and play out. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing in front of a lot of Kansas City people out there.”

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