Roddy White

Sharod Lamor "Roddy" White (born November 2, 1981) is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected with the 27th pick overall in the 2005 NFL Draft out of University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Early years
White attended James Island High School in James Island, South Carolina, and was a four-sport letterman and standout in football, baseball, soccer, and wrestling. In football, he was a two-time All-Low Country honoree, a two-time All-State honoree, and was also listed as one of the top receivers in the nation on Rivals.com. In wrestling, he was a two-time state champion often pinning his opponent in a move that was coined the "Shanaz". White attended University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where he was a standout wide receiver. In 2004, White helped UAB to its first and to date, only bowl game. In the 2004 Hawaii Bowl, White caught six passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in a 59-40 defeat of the Blazers by Hawaii.

Atlanta Falcons
White saw instantaneous action in his rookie campaign. He ranked fourth among all rookie receivers in 2005. Although a high ankle sprain caused him to remain on the sidelines for much of the preseason, he recovered by Week 2 of the 2005 season and was put on the team's roster. In Week 4 of the 2005 season, against the Minnesota Vikings, he was inserted in the lineup as the No. 3 receiver. During the course of the game he racked up 64 yards on 5 catches. However, during the rest of the season, his performance was spotty at best. He made a fantastic leaping catch over three defenders on a trick play against the New Orleans Saints during Week 14 for a 54-yd touchdown, but dropped a touchdown catch the next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, although he had a 108-yard receiving performance vs. Tampa Bay (11/20) which was the second-highest receiving total put up by a rookie wide receiver in 2005, only surpassed by Jaguars WR Matt Jones (117 yards vs. Baltimore).

In the Falcons 2007 game against the New Orleans Saints, White showed his support for fellow Falcon Michael Vick by wearing a t-shirt that said "Free Mike Vick" and pulling up his jersey after scoring a touchdown. Earlier that day, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail on dogfighting charges. White was fined $10,000 by the league for his actions.

Roddy White became the first Falcon WR since 1999 to reach 1,000 single season receiving yards on December 23, 2007. He also finished tied for 8th among all NFL wide receivers in receiving yards in 2007 with 1,202 yards. He had 6 receiving touchdowns.

Roddy White's 2008 performance was even better than the previous year, finishing 4th in the NFL in receiving yards (3rd in the NFC). He finished the year with 1,382 receiving yards (career high and team record), 88 receptions (career high), and 7 touchdowns (career high). He broke Alfred Jenkins team record of 1,358 receiving yards, which stood since 1981.

After his Week 14 performance in the team's 29–25 loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome, ESPN personality Chris Berman (while reporting the highlights of the game on SportsCenter) gave White the nickname "Rowdy" Roddy White, named after professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Roddy White caught a touchdown pass in the playoffs game against the Arizona Cardinals, who defeated the Falcons.

On December 16, 2008, White was named to the 2009 Pro Bowl along with fellow Falcons RB Michael Turner.

Roddy White had 1 catch for 26 yards and 1 rush for 7 yards in the 2009 Pro Bowl. On July 31, 2009, White began a holdout, boycotting the 2009 training camp in an attempt at an early contract extension. On August 8 he signed a six-year, $48 million contract extension with $18.6 million guaranteed and $28 million dollars over the first three years of the deal. The extension makes him the 5th highest paid wide receiver in the league, behind Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, Carolina's Steve Smith, Chicago's Brandon Marshall, and Houston's Andre Johnson.

On October 11, 2009 White became the all time receiving leader in yards in one game in Franchise history in a game against the 49ers. In this game White had 8 receptions for 210 yards, a career-high with a 90 yard touchdown catch and 2 touchdowns.

He finished the 2009 season with 85 receptions 1,153 yards and a career high 11 touchdowns. He became only the second Falcon player to record three straight 1,000 yard seasons. On January 26, 2010, Roddy White was selected to his 2nd Consecutive Pro Bowl.

Roddy White led the 2010 Pro Bowl in catches with 8 for 84 yards.

In the first game of the 2010 season, Roddy White had a career-high 13 receptions.

Through 16 games in 2010 Roddy White leads the NFL in receptions with 115 and the NFC in receiving yards with 1,389. He also has 10 touchdowns for the year.

He led the NFC Pro Bowl team with 69 yards.

Roddy White has more yards (5,158) than any other receiver in the league since 2007.

On January 11, 2012 White was added to the NFC Pro Bowl Roster replacing Lions WR Calvin Johnson due to sore Achilles. In 2011 Roddy White broke the Falcons all time receiving yards record.

Falcons franchise records

 * Most receiving yards in a single season (1,389 in 2010)
 * Most receiving yards in a half (185) and Receiving yards in a game (210)
 * Most career receiving yards (7,374)
 * Most receptions
 * Most receptions in a playoff game (11)
 * Most seasons with 1,000 yards (6) http://www.nfl.com/player/roddywhite/2506366/profile

White is the father of three children and currently resides in Braselton, Georgia.