After Long Wait, White Gets Shot to Replace Crosby
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – While driving on Jan. 2, Parker White got a text message that he’ll never forget.
“I was driving back from Florida and I got a text from my agent that said, ‘You’re in the NFL,” White said this week. “I was like, ‘Ooh, that’s a good text to receive. I wonder what the additional information to that is.’”
The additional information from his agent, Joel Turner, was the record-setting South Carolina kicker was going to be signed by the Green Bay Packers. A day after the season-ending loss to Detroit, White flew to Green Bay and signed a futures contract, meaning a spot on the 90-man roster.
“It was definitely a surreal feeling to get that first deal done,” White said.
White in 2021 took full advantage of his super-senior year for the Gamecocks. Getting a fifth year of eligibility due to the pandemic, White made 16-of-17 field-goal attempts and all 30 extra-point tries. Nonetheless, he went undrafted and unsigned. Finally, in August, he joined five other kickers in Green Bay for a workout.
Before the workout, White hit a 60-yarder. During the workout, he made all eight field-goal tries.
The Packers didn’t sign him. Moreover, that was his one and only workout of the season.
“I hoped that word was going to travel,” White said. “That’s what everyone was saying. Everyone was like, ‘Now that you’ve had one good workout, teams are going to call.’”
In the world of NFL workouts, Team A will see that Team B worked out a handful of players. Team A, who’s not on Team B’s schedule but might need someone at a specific position, will call to get some intel.
That call didn’t come during the season, but it did in January. With veteran Mason Crosby headed to free agency, the Packers signed White and elected not to retain season-long practice squad kicker Ramiz Ahmed or late-season practice squad addition Matt Ammendola.
Thus, White is the only kicker under contract for the Packers.
“That was my one opportunity and I capitalized on it,” White said.
Making it in the NFL is difficult at any position but especially for a specialist. There might be three quarterbacks and 10 defensive backs under contract. There’s only one kicker, one punter and one long snapper. Thus, it takes someone with a lot of mental toughness to keep working even when there’s no guarantee that work ever will be rewarded.
“It’s obviously been a dream of mine to play in the NFL,” White said. “I’m a self-motivator. I’ve had that goal in mind of making it to the league and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. I was just continuing to work every day.
“As far as trying to stay afloat or a backup plan, I was doing a bunch of side things that didn’t take much time. I was just trying to stay busy. Between kicking and working out and staying in shape, that’s only a few hours a day, so I was doing a bunch of stuff.”
White delivered dinners via DoorDash. He provided kicking lessons to high-schoolers. He worked for a driving school in Charleston, S.C. He flipped things on Facebook Marketplace.
“Whatever I could possibly do to make a few dollars here and there to be able to pay for my gym membership so I could train and stay ready for my opportunity,” White said.
He even went into business. Along with former South Carolina long snapper Ben Asbury, they started United Spur Carriers, a trucking firm located in Columbia, S.C.
“It was his idea and he wanted me to help him,” White said. “I’m a minority owner – I’m 30 percent and he’s the other 70. We employ three drivers and have three trucks and three trailers. We book the loads for them and negotiate rates and do paperwork and pay them.
“He does the bulk of the work and I’m very appreciative for that because I have other stuff going on right now with football. Whenever I was free, he would give me tasks. I’m trying to help out with that as much as I can, so that’s another one of my little ventures that I’m trying to do in addition to football.”
Right now, White’s focus is on football and working on a list of things provided by Green Bay’s coaches. He kicks on Tuesdays and Saturdays – he was just getting off the practice field before this Tuesday interview – and works on strength and conditioning four or five days a week. As the April 17 reporting date for the start of offseason practices approaches, he’ll switch to three days of kicking and three days of working out.
“I’ve been trying to get my leg stronger to be able to handle the wind up there and the cold and have more leg strength so I can be better-suited to do kickoffs and field goals,” he said.
To be sure, this is not the finish line for White but it’s impossible to ignore the unbelievable opportunity. There’s no guarantee Crosby, who will turn 39 just before the start of the season, will return. If he doesn’t, there will be an enormous void on the roster.
As one of the coaches told White, “‘You need to be preparing to kick for the Green Bay Packers. That’s how you need to be preparing,’” White said. “That’s how I’m taking it right now. I obviously know it’s not going to be given to me, so I’m going to work to take the job even though, for now, I’m the only guy on the roster.
“That doesn’t really mean a whole lot to me because I know they’re going to sign somebody at some point. It’s going to be a competition for it and I’m going to have to compete not only against him but against myself to continue to improve. I’m going to keep working every day and make sure that I’m the one kicking field goals this year because that’s my goal.”
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