“Sensitive” Devin White

May 4th, 2024

During former Buccaneers savior linebacker Devin White’s mysterious roller coaster ride of a season last year, Joe noted that White was an overly emotional guy and Sage of Tampa Bay sports JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman called White a locker room issue.

Not everyone agreed.

Joe had no reason to back off that, and it appeared to play out as White didn’t travel with the Bucs to Atlanta — very unlike a team captain — and there was confusion surrounding his inactive status against Green Bay.

Kaufman’s insight played out well and seemed backed up later in March by Todd Bowles when he said White was in need of “a change of scenery.”

White is on the Eagles now but his volatile and thin-skinned ways were back in the spotlight yesterday when Lavonte David was asked on The Rich Eisen Show to name the teammate or former teammate that wouldn’t be able to handle being formally roasted like Tom Brady will be tomorrow on Netflix.

David’s answer? Devin White. “He kind of sensitive a little sometimes,” David said.

Joe’s glad White moved on, but make no mistake, he was a good draft pick. White’s highest of highs were a huge part of why the Bucs won the Super Bowl in February of 2021.

54 Responses to ““Sensitive” Devin White”

  1. PolianWRONG Says:

    Devin won us a Super Bowl. Good draft pick he did more for us than others did and true Buc fans wish him the best. He was not given the same pass (losing his dad durning a season) that Brady was (losing his wife during a season) so keep it 100 in your perspective and takes Joe.

    Thanks
    Go Bucs!!!

  2. Rod Munch Says:

    Bowles also bashed Godwin, so he’ll be gone next year as well if Bowles is still around.

    But White, with as much as I liked him, was a moron when it came to being a words hurt cupcake. Toughen up kiddo, and stop being a lightweight dramaqueen. And if you’re unable to do – then at least stay off social media.

    As for being glad he’s gone… yeah, can’t wait to see Britt getting beat to the edge and being late in coverage over and over and over again because he’s too slow to play the position.

  3. Jack Says:

    Couldn’t be happier that he’s gone, he was really the only red headed stepchild on the defense, was worried that attitude would spread but thankfully it hasn’t – a perfect fit in Philly! 😉

  4. J Says:

    Glad we got the best out of him.

    No better place for him to go but the one place that was knee deep in turmoil last year.

  5. Durango 95 Says:

    At one point this guy was a really good player. Then he went galloping off into the sunset.

  6. Bamabucs Says:

    Why do you think he went downhill so fast? Coaching, injuries, laziness, age?

  7. Hopein1hand… Says:

    For David to say this speaks volumes about whatever happened with White. David has opened up over the past few years but before that was always a borderline silent stoic when it came to media interactions. He hardly said a thing let alone let out anything that could be construed as shade on a teammate. I wish White and his horses the best and am grateful for his contributions but I take all this as another piece of proof that no team should ever draft a LB top ten. White’s ego issues and where he was drafted are connected. His agent probably plays a role as well.

  8. richardtyson Says:

    In the video of Trey Palmer asking his teammates who they would not let date their sister, 2 said Devin White. One of which was Winfield.

  9. Rod Munch Says:

    richardtyson – they probably saw what he packs in the locker room.

  10. JA Says:

    Good luck with sensitivity issues in Philly. Better own thick skin in a city where the lovable likeness of Santa Claus was the victim of a life threatening snowball assault at the old Vet—thankfully for White, a weapon unavailable to angry Tampons.
    White was the man in 2020, unfortunately regressing into a man-child in subsequent years.
    A movie sequel, perhaps? ‘The Curious Case of Devon White …’

  11. Rod Munch Says:

    Bamabucs Says:
    May 4th, 2024 at 4:28 pm
    Why do you think he went downhill so fast? Coaching, injuries, laziness, age?

    ———-

    First, fake news narrative – he didn’t go ‘downhill’ fast.

    Second, he was legit injured last year, you could see that in the Colts game, I believe, where White couldn’t get to the corner on their QB. Say what you want about White, but he never plays at anything other than full speed and was clearly hurt.

    But third, and most importantly, was Bowles being a complete moron and deciding to dump the defense that the Bucs won a SB with and instead go to this garbage soft zone defense he’s run a majority of the time since 2022. Last year, though the first half of the season, the Bucs ran zone more than 90% of the time. White is not a good player in space, he’s best when attacking, and Bowles just had him standing around in space. Same thing with Davis, who is an excellent man-to-man defense, and instead Bowles just hand him standing around in space. People who don’t know what they’re watching would again and again complain about White and Davis (and everyone else) for getting ‘beat’, when they weren’t beat, they were doing their job.

  12. Joe Says:

    Good luck with sensitivity issues in Philly.

    LOL!

  13. Allen Lofton Says:

    White’s issues stemmed from his childhood and we all handle them differently with some better than others

  14. MadMax Says:

    I know, i know, here i go again, sorry….but, when i was pushing for him, many, almost everyone was telling me pick #5 is too high for a linebacker….then what happened? He was very instrumental in helping us win that SB. Guess what, it was worth it, even though hes gone now. I dont know what happened to him, i wish him well, but yeah the drama was very uncomfortable.

  15. Jerseybuc Says:

    Hahaha. He went to the wrong city!! My man going miss tackle after tackle wip will be smoking him in no time. Hahah

  16. NJbucs23 Says:

    Devin will be eaten alive up here in eagle land. The eagle fans always have it out for Lbs. and I told all my eagle friends about how Devin is. It will be fun to watch it play out.

    Go Bucs !

  17. Durango 95 Says:

    Rod Munch Says:
    May 4th, 2024 at 4:36 pm

    richardtyson – they probably saw what he packs in the locker room.
    ——–

    Have to wonder why any normal person would say this.

  18. geno711 Says:

    White and Dean played their best ball during the Bucs Super Bowl run.

    Not sure either will be considered great Bucs or great NFL players. Seemed like an easy choice not to re-sign White this year. He was a lesser player these last two years, not just last year.

    It seems like more than just a couple of fans on this Joe Bucs site thought that White was sensitive and not that good in the locker room. It seems like guys in the locker room considered that as well. When you play better than the rest, you accept those bad personalities. As soon as he became an ordinary Joe these last two years, he became expendable.

    Really not hard to think that Britt will actually play just as well as White did his last two years here.

  19. Cobraboy Says:

    Great run through the SB, then crash and burn.

    Michael Clayton at LB, ‘cept MC never sniffed a SB.

    Sorry he crashed, OK he’s gone.

  20. Mike C Says:

    Rod, he was ALWAYS a liability in coverage, let’s not have rose colored glasses on.

  21. Buclover1988 Says:

    White is an athlete who peaked in 2021. Hes not elite. Hes good at blitzing/playing down hill and perhaps thats how philly will use him, but he is not good in coverage and he is definitely not worth 100 million that he thinks he is.

  22. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Devin White lost a father & in 2011, a brother…..no one knows what kind of impacts those made.
    I wish him well except when he plays us.

    He was a remarkable player who wasn’t used well…..his nine sacks weren’t a fluke…..they were part of a scheme that was little used afterwards.

  23. Beeej Says:

    “As for being glad he’s gone… yeah, can’t wait to see Britt getting beat to the edge and being late in coverage over and over and over again because he’s too slow to play the position.”

    LD ran a 4.65 40 (11 years ago),

    Britt: 4.75

  24. Buclover1988 Says:

    Tampabaybucfan

    And I lost my mother to cancer, one aunt to a house fire, and another aunt to bone cancer. Stop making excuses for his selfishness. For real. He is not the only one in this world to experience heart ache. A 1 year 9 mill dollar deal alone is more than I will make in a life time, so he can suck it up and play football.

  25. Knothead71 Says:

    This was my first thought when Devin White left.
    To paraphrase the modern poets Outkast,
    Let by-gones be by-gones you can go on, get the hell on,
    you and them horses.

  26. PNW Buc Says:

    Why didn’t the Bucs try Devin in a Micah parsons type of role, just rush the passer? I’m probably mistaken, but didn’t the cowboys initially draft him as a LB and moved him pretty quickly to the edge?
    Anyways. Good luck Devin. Go Bucs!!!

  27. gp Says:

    He has the talent and athletic ability but chose (it seems) to not be as good as we know he could be in a CONTRACT year.
    IMO, he did NOT want to be here for whatever reason, and paid a steep financial price to get out.
    I thank him for his contribution to our super bowl run, and wish him luck in finding where he wants to be. Only time will tell if Philly is it for him.

  28. Mort Says:

    Watched that interview and knew 100% you’d have a post on this specific point very soon. And here we are.

  29. JoeyBuco Says:

    Devin White sure is the only reason we won the super bowl without him we wouldn’t have scored or anything. Jeez what are gonna do without him. True Bucs fans wish him well ha I wish him good riddance. He was a plague on and off the field since that super bowl ring. 5th overall pick benched in favor of a 5th rounder. Ha is it just me me or is that sort of ironic garbage.

  30. stpetebucfan Says:

    DW45 was a very good draft pick who would have been a monster use of draft capital if JL had traded him ahead of year 4 after his Pro Bowl in year 3.

    Hindsight is 20/20 so I’m not really faulting JL but the concept of buy low…a draft pick…and sell high…how many draft picks would he have fetched after that Pro Bowl.

  31. CleanHouse Says:

    Said it many times- failure of coaching and management. Wasted talent and high draft pick.

    Sickening that the scheme was changed so rapidly.

    Pompous GM

  32. CleanHouse Says:

    I say pompous GM because this all unraveled when we were “so good that we didn’t need Suh upfront.”

    I’d also take an injured JPP Any day all day. Whitehead gone= FAIL

    Defense turned soft overnight because of Buc Decision makers

    Also shouldn’t have moved Wirfs to left tackle. Marpet at center…. Always tinkering- bunch of nonsense.

    Any way w no Suh and other tough dudes- We became soft mentally and White and Shaq Barrett couldn’t run free.

    We lost our Mojo.

  33. Lowest Common Denominator Says:

    You know who else was a huge part of why the Bucs won the Superbowl? Ryan Jensen and Ali Marpet.

  34. stpetebucfan Says:

    CleanHouse

    Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh? The Bucs won an SB and paid the price for it by mortgaging the farm. Who here wasn’t down with that for a SB?

    But the price came due and yet the Bucs still managed two more consecutive Division titles. The Division may get ripped by the “experts” but when I went back to check on the Bucs competition for most titles in a row in the NFC South..
    Saints with 4 are now within reach. The ONLY “asterisk” I saw attached to any of those titles….2014 Carolina Panthers won the division with a 7–8–1 …

    I think assuming teams who win Divisions with bad records mean the Division sucks is actually counterintuitive. Which would be easier….to have many wins in a weak Division or a strong Division? Wouldn’t Divisions that are really strong also have a problem putting up a lot of W’s…unless of course that “strength” is based on one or two teams at the top winning all the games.

  35. BakerBucs says Says:

    My head is spinning with soooo many know it alls on this site no sense in watching this year’s games since all u guys have it all figured out before the season starts

  36. gotbbucs Says:

    For those griping about a scheme change and that being the reason White’s career went sideways….how many different schemes has Lavonte David played in? Exactly.
    Keep making excuses for a guy that very obviously didn’t take his job seriously enough to learn how to play “football”, and not be a one trick pony that could only run fast and tackle high around the shoulders.
    I was happy when we drafted him because I thought if he could develop and gain some instincts he could be incredible. He didn’t develop any instincts for the position and every OC in the league figured that out.

  37. Tony Marks Says:

    He’s Gone so NEXT

  38. Brandonbucc Says:

    White was a weak crybaby. He had one good year… he so far in his head, he will fail next year…. Watch. I have no idea why anyone would defend the loser.

  39. Mark A Swygert Says:

    I remember last off season he complained that the Bucs didn’t appreciate him and should sign him to a 5 year 100 million dollar contract. He spoke to Bowles and decided not to hold-out, but there seemed to be a giant decline in effort during his fifth year option season at 11 million dollars. So he signs with Philly for 7 mill. Which shows how delusional he and his agent were about his perceived value in the league. Philly fans will eat him alive if there is any notion he’s not giving 100 %. If he gives 100 % and still fails to meet expectations, they will eat him twice.

  40. heyjude Says:

    Devin helped us get a SB, and others did too. He wasn’t alone. And then he went downhill and probably there were locker room issues. Something was going on. In 2019, he lost his horse Daisy Mae to heat exhaustion, so that wasn’t the reason for his decline most recently. But you never know what others are going through and we may never know what was really going on. However, Devin will need a lot of luck in Philly with Sirianni. He don’t play. Mark Swygert and others are correct, the fans will eat him alive if he doesn’t step up 100%. He may surprise everyone.

  41. BA’s Red Pen Says:

    He’s never been the same after the weirdness surrounding his father’s passing.

  42. Winny Testaverde Says:

    Equal parts Derrick Brooks & Ray Lewis during the 2020 SB Run. We should all be appreciative for that.

    It always worried me when he once said he wanted to be the 1st LB to sign for $100 million or whatever it was.

    A team can’t pay everyone…somewhat worked out in a weird way I suppose.

  43. lambchop Says:

    Love seeing all these keyboard warriors calling D White a cupcake and crybaby. *eyeroll*

  44. Jeffs grandpa Says:

    So many experts

  45. garro Says:

    White had three exceptional games Joe…leading to the SB.

    Nada since because he was a grandstander and did not like anything that did not allow him to be in the limelight. He refused to tackle play pass defense and take care of simply filling gaps on run plays as any other LB in the league would be expected to do! couldnt be bothered to run down the field! Not sure why you continue with unwarranted praise for this guy Joe.

    One of the very few mistakes Jason has made is not getting some trade value for him 2 or 3 years ago when he had some, and it became obvious he was not taking coaching.

    Go Bucs!

  46. Jarrett Says:

    Man you guys are crazy if you think Devin White can’t play lol.

    This offseason we got rid of DWHITE #45 and Carlton Davis #24 to pay for Baker Freakin Mayfield .

    Give me a break

  47. Mike Johnson Says:

    Look, I’m not gonna rag on White. Sometimes its just time to move on. That even applies to us in our careers. Devin White gave us 2 great years out of college. And was part of us winning a superbowl. But his time was done here and he could not handle it well. Maybe Philly is the fresh start he needed. But some players give you 2 to 5 yrs in the league and sail out on mediocrity. whether its diue to injuries or attitude. Good luck to the guy…NEXT…….

  48. unbelievable Says:

    The interview was hilarious. Good to see David sound relaxed and comfortable.

    He also said Suh was the guy that no one would want to roast, because then you’d have to deal with afterwards, and nobody wants that. LOFL

  49. Joe Says:

    The interview was hilarious. Good to see David sound relaxed and comfortable.

    May have been his best interview.

  50. Toad Bowels Says:

    Several here had a good point. Why couldn’t Devin White be moved to and used as an edge rusher? He has the talent for it and could also fill in linebacker in an emergency.

  51. Oneilbuc Says:

    The bucs should have kept White and I got a strange feeling that we were going to miss him on our defense. Those other 2 linebackers are not better than White. And if Baker doesn’t have a good defense and running game he is garuteen to suck. He had all of that at Cleveland and when they put the games in his hands he couldn’t carry the offense. Just like against the Lions both games and the second saints game.

  52. chark Says:

    I wont miss d white’s 1st quarter celebrations after making routine tackles. But I do feel under the right circumstances he could prosper and under close supervision(coaching) in philly. But it was time for him to be out of here.

  53. BucsFan55 Says:

    Thank you for helping us win the superbowl, NEXT

  54. Debbie⁴ Says:

    Devin White demanded 100 million to a cash strapped team. He didn’t get what he wanted, and played to be kicked off the team. Yea, people get hurt playing, but the locker room knows how long it takes to recover. He needs a new manager, one that is real with him. A year in the frozen north will cure any misconceptions.