Charles White

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  • July 29, 2022 at 2:23 pm #139849
    Zooey
    Moderator

    https://www.latimes.com/sports/usc/story/2022-07-17/usc-trojans-football-charles-white-dementia-heisman-trophy-winner

    From Bill Plaschke: The Heisman Trophy winner wanders through halls of nothing in a house of nowhere.

    “Fight on,” he says.

    The man who ferociously rushed for more yards than anyone in USC history aimlessly meanders around the walkers and wheelchairs of his fellow residents in the memory care unit of a south Orange County assisted-living facility with one thing on his diminishing mind.

    “I love USC,” he says.

    He is wearing what he wears virtually every day, Trojans gear, head to toe, from the cardinal cap to the gold shirt to the cardinal sweatpants to the cardinal-and-gold watch. He is never recognized, but that’s OK, because, for now, he still recognizes himself.

    He knows he is Charles White, and he knows what he accomplished for his beloved university.

    “I know I once did something good, something great, something fantastic for USC,” he says.

    He knows he won the Heisman, was named the Rose Bowl most valuable player twice, and was a member of the 1978 national champions.

    “Everything I did in football, it was all USC,” he says.

    He knows he lost the trust of the Trojans family after years of drug and alcohol abuse led him to sell his Heisman, disengage from the program and become a virtual outcast.

    “Sometimes I went to the devil,” he says.

    Then, 10 years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia, probably caused by all those football collisions, the resulting traumatic brain injury probably contributing to his life of addiction….

     

     

    July 29, 2022 at 9:14 pm #139852
    TSRF
    Participant

    Wow, that’s sad.

    Did he join the Rams during the strike, or was he already on the team and decided to play the strike games?  I remember him being a tough SOB.

    July 29, 2022 at 9:38 pm #139853
    JackPMiller
    Participant
    TSRF wrote:

    Wow, that’s sad. Did he join the Rams during the strike, or was he already on the team and decided to play the strike games? I remember him being a tough SOB.

     

    White came to the Rams in 1985, and played until 1989. So he was already here, when the NFL played with replacement players

    July 29, 2022 at 9:45 pm #139854
    wv
    Participant

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