Chris Johnson is the best running back in the NFL, which means any other running back on the Tennessee Titans will be a backup. LenDale White understands that, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
In fact, White dislikes it so much that he wants the Titans to trade him.
“I backed up greatness, a guy who ran for 2,000 yards,” White told the Tennessean Friday. “But now that that’s over I feel like . . . it is time for me to start somewhere. And that is what I want to do. I want to be a starter in the NFL, not a backup.”
White knows he’s not going to be a starter as long as Johnson is his teammate, and that’s why he wants out.
“I would definitely be interested in a trade,” White said. “I don’t know where, or how [the Titans] might view that, but that is what I am hoping for. I can’t see me sitting in Tennessee as a backup any more. And that goes as no disrespect to the Titans or C.J., but I feel like it is time for me to get out of there. . . . Sometimes it is just best to part ways.”
Realistically, if White only wants to be traded to a team that’s going to guarantee him a starting job, the Titans aren’t going to have many takers. White had 64 carries for 222 yards in 2009, and guys who can’t manage 3.5 yards a carry can’t exactly demand to be starters.
And Titans coach Jeff Fisher hinted that White’s real problem is that he doesn’t work hard enough, saying, “I don’t blame any player for wanting to play and wanting more play-time. But in his case actions speak louder than words. And I have no further comment.”
