Devin White reveals he played through illness, had minor procedure before first NFL game
Players often have nerves for their NFL debut. But that wasn’t the only issue that former LSU linebacker Devin White had to work through for his first game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In the Buccaneers’ season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, White was battling tonsillitis, according to a report by ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine. It caused White to lose 10 pounds because he couldn’t eat due to it hurting so much when he swallowed.
“I couldn’t really speak,” White said, per Laine. “You know, it was really hard having to call the plays. I mean, that’s my job, but … it was hard for me to breathe.”
White needed five IV bags between Friday and Sunday because he was dehydrated.
“I basically had a minor surgery on my tonsils,” White said. “I had like an abscess coming in behind them so I had to get it drained — it was full of pus. … It took the world [to be able to play].”
After playing at LSU from 2016-18, White was the No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. And despite battling tonsillitis, the former Tiger had four tackles in the Buccaneers’ 31-17 loss to the 49ers.
It was only one regular-season game, but White has quickly made an impression on his new head coach and teammates.
“That’s exactly what I would expect of the guy — he’s tough,” coach Bruce Arians said.
“Nobody even knew what he had going on,” cornerback Vernon Hargreaves said. “He’s tougher than me — I’ll say that.”