No Regrets : Rams’ White Is Glad He Stayed at Cal Long Enough to Earn Degree

Russell White drives a truck, not a German luxury car, but the ornament adorning his rear-view mirror cost him a million dollars. And it’s far more prestigious than any Mercedes or BMW as far he’s concerned.

It’s just a little tassel, the one attached to White’s headgear last May when he graduated from California.

He had been a projected first-round draft pick after his junior season, but White decided against taking the money for running. He elected to stay in school and complete work on his degree.

It was a decision that cost him a great deal of money. And it was a decision he says that he will never regret.

“My mom always told me, ‘You’re never going to miss what you’ve never had,’ ” he says, grinning. “I don’t know what it feels like to be a No. 1 pick. I don’t know what it feels like to have a million dollars. But I do know what it feels like to be a third-round pick with a college degree.

“And it feels good.”

A less-than-spectacular senior season at Cal and the NFL’s new rookie salary cap added up to a huge loss of income for White. He had to settle for a three-year deal with the Rams worth a reported $830,000.

So why is this man smiling?

“I made a stand and the best feeling of my life was walking across that stage and getting that diploma,” he said. “Nothing else comes close.

“Go around the NFL and ask how many guys have their degrees. I’m sure there’s not too many. You can’t play football forever, you know. People can take your money, take your job, take your car, even take your wife, but that degree, that’s mine. Can’t nobody take that away.

“And every time I get in my car and look at that tassel, I say to myself, ‘Damn, I did it. I really did it.’ ”

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So Russell White drives a truck with a million-dollar mirror decoration, but what drives Russell White?

At Encino’s Crespi High, where he looked like Walter Payton playing with boys while rushing for a state-record 5,998 yards, it was the great expectations of others and the media attention. At Cal, where he ran for 1,280 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a junior, it was the fear of living down to others’ low expectations.

His failure to score high enough on the Scholastic Aptitude Test made him Cal’s first-ever Prop. 48 student. For some, he became the symbol of what ails higher education. Even Cal had sold out its academic tradition for success on the football field.

“In high school, I lived for the media, for the coaches, for other people,” he said. “Then every time I took one of those SAT tests, the media was there. My whole life was open like a book.

“Then when I got to Cal, I sure didn’t want to make a fool of myself again with everyone saying I couldn’t do it. Nobody can imagine the humiliation I felt my senior year in high school and the only way I was going to get my self-esteem back was to get that piece of paper.”

The first step was admitting that he couldn’t do it alone. In high school, he resigned himself to the fact that he was “just stupid,” but at Cal, he mustered the courage to seek help. It was discovered he was dyslexic.

“Luckily, I reached the point where I wasn’t afraid to raise my hand and say, ‘I need help,’ ” he said. “I was too macho in high school, but when I got to Cal, I realized that if I didn’t do something, I wasn’t going to be there very long.”

Once obsessed with avoiding failure, White has discovered a sense of inner peace since graduation. He has his degree in social welfare, he has the tassel dangling as proof, and he has a new perspective on life.

“I used to use stuff people would throw at me as fuel, power to keep motivated, but now I figure if I can’t do it for myself, then why even do it? Just because I’m not the No. 1 pick and Jerome (Bettis) is the man and all that, that’s not what motivates me.

“I’ve learned to live for and within Russell White and I’m doing this because I love football, because I’m living out the dream that I’ve had since I was little.”

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For a guy who has seen his dreams shattered, who watched his father walk out when he was 6, who witnessed the rise and fall of his uncle, Charles White, White remains optimistic.

His relationship with his father, Roosevelt, doesn’t appear headed for a happy ending, however. A short visit last year may have been their last.

“It’s just too late; it’s just awfully late now,” White said. “People say, ‘You should get to know you’re dad.’ But it’s been too long.

“Look, I don’t understand what he was thinking about at the time he left, or why he never tried to be a father to me. He said he thought my mother was filling my head with a bunch of lies, but that wasn’t the case at all.

“All I know for sure is that if I were to break up with my wife and we had kids, I would always be there for my kids, no matter where in the country they were or I was. But for me and my dad, I guess it’s too late.”

For years, however, he did have a positive male role model in the family. Charles White won a Heisman Trophy at USC and was a first-round selection by the Cleveland Browns. But then White was arrested in an empty lot a few miles from Rams Park in a drug-induced state. And his nephew felt the pain, too.

“I never really looked at Charles the way other people did,” he said. “He was just my uncle. It was that simple. But then when he started having problems, I’ll be honest, it was embarrassing. It was like, ‘What are people going to think of me?’ I was being self-centered, of course, which is what kids do, I guess. But now, it’s a comfortable relationship, a building relationship.”

Charles White, who declined to be interviewed, is an assistant to John Robinson at USC. He came out to training camp and joined his nephew for dinner recently. They had a “long, positive talk,” Russell said.

“A lot of things he went through as a rookie, now I’m going through,” he said. “It’s good to have someone to talk to who understands what it’s like. Charles has had his bumps and bruises, but now he’s moving on, and he’s making a genuine effort to be a part of my life. And that’s nice.”

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Anyone who saw the Ram-Raider exhibition Saturday doesn’t have to be told that White was excited about scoring his first NFL touchdown. His celebration was something to behold.

It’s not as if White is unfamiliar with the end zone--he scored 94 touchdowns at Crespi--but not everyone is convinced he will make it in the NFL because of his relatively small frame (5 feet 11, 216 pounds) and his less-than-blazing speed.

White, however, intends to make people forget those measly college numbers.

“I think I’ll be a better professional player than I was as a college player,” he said. “Contrary to what some have said, I think my style of running is more suited to the pro game. . . .

“It will take time, but I feel once I get into my rhythm, I’ll be better at this level.”

White believes his pass-catching abilities will be emphasized and his knack for finding a crack in the defense is more important in a league where holes are sometimes only .22 caliber.

“This is a very smart guy, a great listener, and maybe most important, he understands how to listen and correct,” Harris said. “ . . . Because of his previous level of success, he has goals and expectations far beyond those of the average player. So you just hope he comes close to that.”

Never discount the power of the tassel.