Video: Parker White explains why he wasn't signed by an NFL team until this week
The road to the NFL hasn’t been easy for Parker White but it’s one that he’s grateful for.
After playing his final season of college football in 2021, White left South Carolina as the program’s all-time scoring leader. Yet, it wasn’t until over a year after playing in his final game as a Gamecock that he signed his first NFL contract.
Earlier this week, the Green Bay Packers signed White to a futures contract.
“I was on my way back from Jacksonville (a couple days after South Carolina’s bowl game),” recalled White. “My agent said, ‘congrats, you’re in the NFL.’ He let me know that once the season ended they were gonna sign me.”
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Future contracts can be signed as soon as the previous regular season is over, but the contract won’t count against a team’s salary cap or 53-man limit until the next season. With the Packers losing their regular season finale this past weekend, White flew out to Green Bay to make it official on the dotted line.
After going undrafted in 2022, White was invited to mini-camp by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. But competing against two veteran kickers, it never amounted into anything more. As the 2022 NFL season played out, teams reached out to White but some admitted that they were hesitant in signing him during the middle of the year.
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“It’s that I’m inexperienced with no professional games. That was the number one thing anytime a team said they were gonna sign one guy over me was because, ‘so-and-so has kicked in a game before and we don’t want to have to trust a rookie who has no in-game experience.’ That’s kind of the main thing and main feedback I’ve really gotten. Not doing kickoffs at Carolina the past year or two hurt me a little bit. But, I can do it now and I’ve sent out good film (to teams) on that. Usually (teams) are gonna favor guys who’ve gotten shots before, even if it was in preseason or the XFL.”
Not knowing when an opportunity would come, White bought a gym membership to train and had used whatever fields he could find that were available to kick. He did all of this while juggling a handful of gigs.
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“I started a trucking company. It’s a growing company and it’s not seeing a lot of profit. We’re taking out loans and trying to grow our business. Short-term wise, I’ve been doing driving lessons for a driving school. I’ve also been doing DoorDash, kicking lessons, appearances, you know? Just trying to make ends meet.”
