Instant legends need a nickname, don’t they? So what can we come up with for Mike White? Marvelous Mike? Magic Mike? Heck, as this is New York sports, why not The Mick? Hmm, surely there’s a better option out there. Answers on a postcard, please. Whether we settle on a nickname or not, whether White’s day in the sun last weekend was the precursor to greatness or a magnificent one-off, none of that matters much right now. Because Jets fans are having fun and feeling great, spending much of Sunday chanting their quarterback’s name and yes, you read the first part of this sentence correctly. No, it’s not a mistake. That’s right, the Jets. (You spell it J.E.T.S.). A backup QB out of Western Kentucky, White back gave one of the most tortured fan bases in the league reason to celebrate on Sunday with a standout performance in his first ever National Football League start and it was, frankly, astonishing. There was White doing everything, marching the offense down the field, tossing 11 straight completions to begin, orchestrating a comeback against the Cincinnati Bengals and even catching a touchdown himself on a trick play toward the end. The Jets were aggressive and confident and refused to be pushed around in the way they have so many times. And there were those fans whose faces normally get panned to by the cameras to portray forlorn hope and abject misery, yet this time they were roaring their support, pumping their fists, scarcely able to believe it but loving every second. The Jets have been filled with malfunction for a long, long time and it is going to take a lot to fix that. White’s emergence lifted spirits, showed its actually not impossible to play the QB position in a Jets uniform, and yes, added some intrigue to the situation surrounding No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson. Perhaps most important of all, White had the fans looking forward to the next game instead of treating it with trepidation, as has become the standard. On Thursday, White and Jets will take on the Indianapolis Colts (8:20 p.m. ET on FOX) and the man everyone is talking about is one who was a complete unknown just a couple of weeks ago. This week I spoke to Roger Harriott, who is the head coach of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as White’s mentor and friend. Harriott tells an endearing tale of an unheralded QB who never stopped believing, who passed through South Florida and Western Kentucky, who snuck into the National Football League through the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft and who, quite simply, refused to give up. “He is completely authentic,” Harriott said in a telephone conversation. “He has always been supported by a family that will do anything for him and he’s a leader who operates with benevolence and compassion. That’s why he was ready for his moment. “He’s not self-absorbed and he sees things for what they are. He didn’t start before his senior year of high school. He takes the team role seriously and he lives by it. That’s why there is no QB controversy with the Jets and there won’t be.” Jets head coach Robert Saleh refused to offer clarity on what might happen with the position, saying “anything is possible” when quizzed as to whether White could assume Wilson’s job on a full-time basis. Wilson has a right knee injury and is expected to be sidelined for another week or so. White and Wilson are friends and root for each other. For the Jets, this is a good outcome, not a Pandora’s box. If White plays well, it allows Wilson more time to develop. If White somehow becomes a star, well, that’s an unexpected bonus. At the very minimum he showed he is a backup who is capable of big things in relief. And he is someone who can get the Meadowlands crowd fired up. “That was my biggest thing,” White’s father, Mike Sr., told the New York Post. “To hear a bunch of fans in the stadium chanting your son’s name – teary-eyed on that one. Both my wife and I (were) very emotional. She had tears in her eyes as well.” It is a pretty simple chant – “Mike White, Mike White, Mike White.” There is not a whole lot of tone or melody to it but when you hear it enough it has its own rhythm and rolls off the tongue quite nicely. Jets fans don’t care much either way, for this was a lift they didn’t see coming and a hero, be it a temporary one or not, who they’ve taken to their hearts. Who needs a nickname, after all? Here’s what others have said … Ty Johnson, New York Jets Running Back: “He’s a savage, he’s a dog, he’s an animal.” C.J. Mosley, New York Jets Linebacker: “It was a moment to remember for him, for the fans and for our football team.” Rich Cimini, ESPN: “For now, they should ride the wave. The Mike White wave.” |
