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© 2025 COLD WIRE MEDIA. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

The Life And Career Of Charles White

Ben Donahue
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The Life And Career Of Charles White
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport

 

As a running back at USC, Charles White had a college career for the ages.

During his four years with the Trojans, White rushed for over 1,000 yards twice and over 2,000 yards in 1979.

Along the way, he was selected for numerous awards, including the Heisman Trophy, and was twice named Rose Bowl Player of the Game.

Due to his accolades, it was a given that White was selected in the first round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

Unfortunately, his pro career was largely derailed by drug use that started when White was in college.

After four years in Cleveland, White was released from his contract, and he signed with the LA Rams.

It wasn’t until his seventh year as a pro that White’s potential was finally realized when he topped the 1,000-yard mark for the first and only time.

He retired following the 1988 season and rehabbed his image enough to become a coach for USC in the mid-1990s.

By 2022, White was experiencing dementia before cancer took his life in 2023.

This is the story of Charles White.

 

Los Angeles Native

Charles Raymond White was born on January 22, 1958, in Los Angeles, California.

His four younger brothers, as well as extended family, including nephews and cousins, were all talented athletes.

In fact, nine members of the family played college sports, and three of them (including Charles) would eventually play in the NFL.

“We all saw college — and pro football — as a way out,” said relative James Gordon.

Initially, White was stuck playing JV ball at San Fernando High School until he was promoted to the varsity squad in 1974, his junior year.

He was moved from quarterback to fullback as part of the “Dream Backfield” with halfbacks Ray and Kevin Williams (no relation) and QB Kenny Moore.

 

A Punishing Runner and Defender

During his junior year, White rushed for 1,160 yards on just 118 carries and also crushed opponents as a defender.

The Tigers lost only one game that season and advanced to the L.A. City championship against Palisades High School.

Late in the contest, Palisades kicked a field goal to lead 13-12.

As the Dolphins celebrated an almost certain victory, the referee ruled that a Tigers player had jumped offside during the play.

Instead of refusing the penalty and taking the win, the Palisades coaches decided to try to score a touchdown.

On the ensuing play, White closed hard from his safety position and tattooed the ballcarrier for a loss.

San Fernando High held on for an improbable 12-10 win.

 

Athletic Marvel

Not only was White an exciting talent in football, but he was also just as exciting to watch on the track.

In the fall of his senior year, White dashed for 1,155 yards, including an astounding 215 yards and three touchdowns against Van Nuys High School.

The Tigers won the city championship again, and White, Moore, and Kevin Williams were selected as tri-L.A. City Section Players of the Year.

(In 2015, San Fernando High retired White’s number 12 jersey).

Then, in the spring, White took part in the 330-yard low hurdles in the state track meet, beating future Olympian Andre Phillips.

Although he was focused on playing college football, coaches, teammates, and the L.A. sports media all believed that White could have been an Olympic athlete himself if he stayed with track.

 

USC

White had grown up watching USC games and dreamed about being a backfield star for the Trojans.

So, when new head coach John Robinson offered him a scholarship, White eagerly accepted.

In 1976, he was on a roster that included senior running back Ricky Bell (who would be the first overall pick of the 1977 NFL Draft) and quarterback Vince Evans.

Despite backing up Bell, the 5 ’10”, 190-pound White still saw action in 11 games and totaled 744 yards and nine touchdowns and added another receiving score.

White also averaged a Pac-8-best 6.0 yards per carry.

USC went 11-1 and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, where White ran for 114 yards and a touchdown after Bell was sidelined due to a concussion.

With Bell off to the Tampa Bay Bucs in 1977, White took over as the starting running back.

The Trojans took a step back with seven wins, but White led the conference with 264 attempts, 1,291 yards, and 272 plays from scrimmage.

He also scored eight combined touchdowns.

During USC’s victory over Texas A&M in the Bluebonnet Bowl, White scored a receiving touchdown in the second quarter.

After the regular season, he was named a first-team All-Conference athlete.

 

National Champs

American Football Field

 

USC began 1978 with high hopes and a stacked roster.

Not only was White in the backfield, but so was Marcus Allen (a future NFL Hall of Famer) and White’s former high school teammate, Kevin Williams.

The Trojans shot out of the gate with four straight wins, including a 24-14 victory over then-top-ranked Alabama on September 23.

Arizona State pulled off a stunning upset on October 14, but USC blitzed through the remainder of its schedule unscathed.

White was outstanding with 1,760 yards and 12 touchdowns and 13 total scores (which led the Pac-10), and he led the nation with 342 attempts and 362 plays from scrimmage.

He was named first-team All-Pac-10, Pac-10 Player of the Year, a Unanimous All-American, the Trojans’ team MVP, and he was chosen for the Voit Trophy as the most outstanding player on the West Coast.

Then, in the Rose Bowl against 5th-ranked Michigan, White dove for a touchdown in the second quarter, but fumbled the ball short of the goal line, and the ball was recovered by the Wolverines.

One official ruled him down at the one-yard line and gave Michigan the ball.

However, a second official signaled that the running back had scored.

The “Phantom Touchdown” was upheld, and USC led 14-3.

“There was no way I got that ball into the end zone,” White said years later. “But what was I supposed to do? Say to the ref, ‘Excuse me, you made a mistake?'”

USC held on for a 17-10 win, and White was named co-MVP of the game.

Earlier that same day, Alabama beat top-ranked Penn State, and USC’s Rose Bowl victory gave the program the national championship.

 

Heisman Winner

Heisman trophy

 

The Trojans were eager to prove themselves worthy of back-to-back national titles in 1979.

After five games, the team was undefeated before Stanford unexpectedly fought USC to a tie on October 13 (at one point, the Trojans led 21-0).

A week later, White and his teammates blew out 9th-ranked Notre Dame, 42-23, and continued rolling through the rest of the regular season.

By then, White had another monster year with 1,803 yards (tops in the nation), and he led the conference with 293 attempts, a 6.2 yards-per-carry average, 18 touchdowns, and 313 plays from scrimmage.

For the third year in a row, he was named a first-team All-Conference member, a Unanimous All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year (consecutive year for both awards), and was USC’s team MVP for the second time.

White was then chosen as the Heisman Trophy winner (the third USC tailback to win the award after Mike Garrett and O.J. Simpson), and he also received the Maxwell and Walter Camp Awards.

USC played in the Rose Bowl again in 1979, this time against top-ranked Ohio State.

In the fourth quarter, White scored a touchdown with a little over a minute to play for the winning points in a tight 17-16 victory.

He was named the Player of the Game again after gashing the Buckeyes for 247 rushing yards.

That pushed White’s total rushing yards for 1979 to 2,050 yards.

In 1990, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.

 

Stellar Career

During his four-year college career, White rushed for 5,598 yards (6,245 yards including bowl games), 46 rushing touchdowns, and tallied 54 receptions for 507 yards and three more touchdowns.

In 1978, he also returned seven kicks for 145 yards.

Along with his Heisman and other accolades, White set 22 USC, Pac-10, and national records.

He was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

“He was the toughest player I’ve ever coached,” said John Robinson, White’s former USC and Rams head coach. “He was really unusual in that regard. He was a great player and just loved playing the game. Those are the things I remember the most. He was a really tough guy, and he was an extremely gifted athlete. But the toughness…wow!”

 

Cleveland Drafts White

The Cleveland Browns have a rich history of running backs.

Since the franchise’s inception in 1946 through 2025, Cleveland has boasted Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, Kevin Mack, Earnest Byner and Nick Chubb, among others.

When the Brown’s 9-7 season in 1979 ended, the team had Mike and Greg Pruitt on the roster.

However, even though Mike Pruitt rushed for almost 1,300 yards that year, Greg Pruitt could only muster 233.

To bolster the run game, Cleveland selected White with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 1980 NFL Draft (White’s USC teammate, QB Paul McDonald, was selected in the fourth round by the Browns).

As a rookie, he played in 14 games and started seven.

In late October, White was absent from the team without giving a reason.

Cleveland and its “Kardiac Kids” wrapped the year with an 11-5 record and a loss to the Oakland Raiders in the infamous “Red Right 88” divisional round game.

White ran for 279 yards and five touchdowns, and caught 17 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown that season.

A year later, he was the primary backup to Mike Pruitt and appeared in all 16 games, starting eight, and gained 342 yards and one touchdown along with 27 catches for 219 additional yards.

 

Inner Demons

By the summer of 1982, White could no longer keep his inner demons under wraps.

In June, he disclosed to Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano that he had struggled with marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol use since his days at USC.

Furthermore, in a Sports Illustrated article about White’s pro career in 1987, he admitted to using cocaine for the first time just a few weeks before playing in the 1977 Rose Bowl.

Cocaine use was becoming more widespread throughout the country in the early 1980s and would eventually take the form of crack cocaine in the mid-80s.

Rutigliano wanted to intervene, and he and Cleveland Clinic doctor Gregory Collins formed a program called “Inner Circle” for Browns players who needed help with drug and alcohol addiction.

The program would prove successful enough that the NFL adopted it for all league teams and players.

First, though, the coach needed White to get himself to rehab.

“It’s a quarter to 2. By 2, you’re either on your way to treatment, or you’re out of here,” said Rutigliano to White.

The running back went to a rehab clinic and returned to start nine games during the strike-shortened 1982 season.

He rushed for 259 yards and three touchdowns and added another 283 yards on 34 receptions.

 

The Browns Release White

By the start of the 1983 season, the players’ strike had been settled, and a full 16-game schedule resumed.

Unfortunately, during a preseason contest against the Buffalo Bills, White broke his ankle and didn’t play a down that year.

The following season, Cleveland started 1-7, leading to Rutigliano’s firing.

He was then replaced by defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer, who coaxed a 4-4 record from the team the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, White played in 10 games, but only started one, resulting in a paltry 62 rushing yards and five catches for 29 yards.

For the first time in his pro career, number 25 failed to find the end zone.

As the offseason loomed, the Browns could no longer tolerate White’s drug and alcohol use, which had persisted despite the best efforts of the team to help.

On June 4, 1985, Cleveland released their former first-round pick.

 

Reuniting with Robinson

When he played at USC, White by far had his most productive years as a running back.

Although he admitted to using drugs and drinking alcohol while in school, White still performed at an elite level, and the Trojans experienced great heights under head coach John Robinson.

After the 1982 college football season, Robinson left USC to lead the Los Angeles Rams.

The coach was blessed to have future Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson in the backfield, and the franchise went to the postseason in Robinson’s first two years with the club.

Despite White’s checkered past, when Robinson heard that his former player had been waived by the Browns, he signed White to serve as a backup to Dickerson.

As the Rams went 11-5 in 1985 and advanced to the NFC Championship game before losing to Chicago, White played in every game and netted 310 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

“In one of his first games [as a Ram], he ran for 120 yards. I sent him a note of congratulations and said, ‘In all the years we had you, you never even ran for 50 yards,'” Rutigliano said.

In 1986, LA went 10-6 before losing in the wild card round to Washington.

White posted a mere 126 yards while Dickerson rushed for over 1,800 yards and was chosen as the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Year for the third time.

 

Breakthrough

Just as training camp was starting in late summer of 1987, White was seen wandering alone in a field.

When police found and questioned him, they charged him with being under the influence of a controlled substance.

On September 3, White was formally charged with a misdemeanor, but he continued to practice and play for the Rams.

An Orange County judge allowed him to enter a drug diversion program on October 31 instead of facing the misdemeanor charge.

Before Week 3, the players’ union once again decided to strike, and the Rams’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals was cancelled.

Then, in a shocking move for NFL fans, Dickerson was traded to the Indianapolis Colts for players and draft picks on the same day White began his drug aversion program.

Just like that, White was suddenly thrust into the full-time starter’s role.

LA went 6-9, but White had a breakthrough at last, rushing 324 times for 1,374 yards and 11 touchdowns.

His attempts and yards led the NFL, and White’s touchdown mark co-led with the Jets’ Johnny Hector.

White’s numbers were the running back’s best career single-season stats by a mile.

He was named the league’s Comeback Player of the Year, first-team All-Pro, and voted to his first Pro Bowl.

 

Release and Retirement

Retirement

 

In the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft, the Rams chose UCLA running back Gaston Green (the organization would also add Bruins receiver Flipper Anderson in the second round).

On September 7, then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended White 30 days after he was found guilty of violating the league’s substance abuse policy yet again.

Rozelle reinstated White on October 5, and the running back found himself backing up Greg Bell, who had come to the Rams from Buffalo during the 1987 season.

White would start three times and play in 12 games, totaling 323 yards but no touchdowns, while Bell rushed for over 1,200 yards and a league-leading 16 touchdowns.

In April of 1989, LA released White, and he decided to retire.

“After discussing it with Coach (John) Robinson, I believe the Rams are looking to younger players,” White said in a prepared statement released through the team. “Although I would have a chance to compete, I feel it is time to step aside. At this time, I do not want to relocate with another team.”

During his eight-year career, White rushed 780 times for 3,075 yards and 23 touchdowns.

He also caught 114 passes for 860 yards and another score.

White was a Pro Bowler, All-Pro, NFL rushing yards leader, and rushing touchdowns co-leader once each, and he was the Comeback Player of the Year in 1987.

 

Life After Retirement 

When White retired from the NFL, his then-wife, Judi, was relieved that her husband was stepping away.

“The money might not be the same,” she said, “but there’s a lot of pressure that comes with a standard of living. Let someone else take the ball. I’m tired. I’ve got five kids. We don’t need the best car or the best house. The very thing that makes you successful will kill you if you don’t keep it under control. The thing that made Charles a wonderful football player–being obsessive, his toughness–is also the thing that almost killed him. You can’t turn it off and on. That’s what makes you you.”

After leaving the game, White finally kicked his drug and alcohol addiction and even found employment with Robinson for the second time.

The coach returned to USC to lead the Trojans in 1993, and he hired White to be his running backs coach.

White remained with the USC football staff until Robinson was fired following a 6-5 record in 1997.

He then worked in administration with the university.

 

White Dies of Cancer

In 2000, White sold his Heisman Trophy to help pay his tax debts, and Judi divorced him after two decades of marriage.

“Everybody loved him, everybody wanted to be around him, but nobody had any idea,” she told Los Angeles Times writer Bill Plaschke. “He had become unmanageable.”

Then, in late July 2022, White was diagnosed with dementia, and he was placed in an assisted living facility.

“All we’ve been through, everybody thought his problems were strictly drug related, now we find out that it could have been directly related to the traumatic brain injury,” Judi White-Basch said. “For so many years it didn’t make sense; now it makes sense.”

Sadly, White was also suffering from liver cancer at the time, and he died due to complications of the disease on January 11, 2023, at the age of 64.

His brain was analyzed and found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), one of several hundred former NFL players diagnosed with CTE after death.

 

References

https://www.upi.com

calhisports.com

https://rosebowlgame.com

https://www.cleveland.com

https://www.latimes.com

https://www.cfbhall.com

https://trojanswire.usatoday.com

sanfernandosun.com

https://usctrojans.com

https://usctrojans.com

https://footballfoundation.org

https://www.sports-reference.com

https://www.heisman.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com

NEXT:  The Life And Career Of Leroy Kelly (Story)

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Ben Donahue
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Pro Football History Staff
Ben Donahue
Contributor at Pro Football History
Over 25 years of experience in sports including coach, athletic director, game day operations, media relations, football operations, and scout. He is [...]

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