Patriots legend has self-deprecating reason for selling Super Bowl prize
Former New England Patriots running back James White will forever remember his historic performance in Super Bowl LI, but he's since traded in a piece of hardware he earned from that game. On February 5, 2017, White claimed his second Super Bowl championship in a contest that would go down in history after the Patriots […]
Former New England Patriots running back James White will forever remember his historic performance in Super Bowl LI, but he's since traded in a piece of hardware he earned from that game.
On February 5, 2017, White claimed his second Super Bowl championship in a contest that would go down in history after the Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons.
White caught a Super Bowl-record 14 passes for 110 yards, while also rushing for 29 yards in the overtime win. He finished the game, tying the Super Bowl record with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion for 20 points.
While it was Tom Brady who was awarded MVP of the game, even the quarterback admitted that White was more deserving, and he would have given him the MVP truck had he been given one.
Two years prior, the Patriots won their fourth Super Bowl after the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks due to Malcolm Butler’s heroic interception on the goal line. While Brady won the MVP award, he gave away the Ford truck given to the Super Bowl MVP to Butler.
However, the NFL had stopped giving away trucks following that year and so neither Brady nor White was able to get a truck for their comeback efforts. Yet, Conan O’Brien took matters into his own hands, giving White a brand-new White Ford F-150.
Six years later, White’s answer was simple when asked if he still has the truck: “No I don’t.”
“I had it for a little bit. It was a Ford F-150. That’s not really my speed. Me being a smaller guy, smaller stature,” White said on Tom Curran’s Patriots Talk Podcast. “That truck’s too big for myself to be driving.”
While he was reminded that the truck would certainly be considered a collector's item, White explained that he just traded it in.
“I’m always going to remember that game,” White said. “Any time I bump into someone, especially from Massachusetts area, that’s obviously the first thing they bring up, and rightfully so. The Super Bowl is a game you play that everybody is tuned in watching and I just so happened to have one of my best performances at that point and time.”
The three-time Super Bowl champion retired in 2022 after eight seasons with the Patriots, finishing with a career 1,278 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
Featured image via Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
