The NFL community has lost a well-known figure. Stephen White, known particularly for his time as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive end from 1996-2001 and then for his post-football career as a prolific writer for JoeBucsFan, SB Nation, and elsewhere, has passed away at 48. White’s former road roommate with Tampa Bay, Tyoka Jackson, shared that news Tuesday night:
https://twitter.com/Tyknowsfootball/status/1564784165832343552
JoeBucsFan columnist and long-time Buccaneers writer Ira Kaufman confirmed the news. This came after White posted on Twitter in April about how a long battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia had led to him checking into Moffitt Cancer Center for a bone-marrow transplant:
White played college football for Tennessee, then was drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996. He wound up with Tampa Bay that year and played for the Buccaneers through 2001 before spending his final NFL season with the New York Jets in 2002. Many of White’s former teammates had tributes for him, including fellow defensive lineman Warren Sapp, who told Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times White was among the best Buccaneers’ teammates he had:
“He was the best,” Sapp said. “Smart, tough and willing to listen.”
Other players chimed in as well:
But White was also well-known for what he did after his playing career. He wrote columns for JoeBucsFan in 2009 and 2010, and he wrote an incredible amount of NFL pieces (63 pages of archives) for SB Nation from 2013-2020, with many of those being detailed tape breakdowns on individual players. He did some further writing after that, including a detailed Bucs-Chiefs Super Bowl piece on his Medium page in 2021. He also regularly appeared on Tampa radio stations to talk about the NFL, and was an insightful NFL commentator on Twitter as well. Many who knew him from his media work offered tributes Tuesday and Wednesday:
Steve White was one of the most brilliant dudes, y’all. I’m so goddamn sad.
— ¡BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL! (@edsbs) August 31, 2022
RIP @sgw94. This was the best thing I read during the whole Super Bowl run
What The Bucs Need To Do To Win. When I started watching film in… | by Stephen White Sr. | Medium https://t.co/4hm9lNxenN
— ScottyByNorfolk (@ScottyByNorfolk) August 31, 2022
White will be missed by many throughout the football world. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.
[JoeBucsFan; image from Stephen White on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.