James White is the latest ex-Patriot to make the shift from the gridiron to the analyst desk. The longtime running back and three-time Super Bowl champion made his debut this week on ESPN’s “Get Up!” program.
He impressed.
What does the tape say about the 2022 Patriots?
When the topic turned to Tom Brady, White said he expects Brady to figure things out with a depleted Buccaneers team (starting center Ryan Jensen is out with an injury, Chris Godwin is recovering from ACL surgery). While that’s rather boilerplate commentary, White delved deeper, using the Patriots’ 2015 season as a jumping off point to explain why he thinks Brady will adjust.
“I remember 2015, we had a similar situation, we had rookie offensive linemen playing. We felt like we had a different set of five offensive linemen playing play every other week,” said White, via MassLive. “He still found a way to throw for 4,700 yards, 30-plus touchdowns. So, he’ll find a way to adjust.”
That’s the sign of a budding analyst. Instead of just throwing out cliches, White referenced his own recent playing career, and tied it to Brady’s situation today. It seems to be simple — that’s why ex-players populate analyst desks — but not everybody does it.
White has already popped up in a number of media roles since retiring from the Patriots earlier this month, including NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” and CBS Sports’ “Jim Rome Show.”
There are a litany of Patriots from the dynasty years who are now on TV: Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Randy Moss, Damien Woody, Rob Ninkovich, Julian Edelman and now Jason McCourty. Ty Law, Jerod Mayo and Troy Brown briefly worked in TV roles as well.
White seems primed to join that distinguished list.