The Minnesota Vikings, in an effort to bolster their pass rush, have signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Stylez G. White to a one-year contract. In order to facilitate the move, they moved offensive lineman Scott Kooistra to the injured reserve list.
White's journey through the NFL has been an interesting one. A native of Newark, New Jersey who played his college ball at the University of Minnesota way back when he was just "Greg White," he was selected in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Buccaneers. In his first stint in the NFL, he saw time for the. . .deep breath. . .Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins, and Chicago Bears. That takes us from 2002 to 2005.
After that, he played a couple of seasons for the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. He played there in 2006 and 2007, earning honors as the AFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2007. That season, he set an Arena Football League record with 15 sacks. That was good enough to get him another chance with the Buccaneers, who he played for from 2007 to 2010, racking up 24 sacks over those four seasons.
Oh, and as far as changing his name. . .it was actually inspired by a character in the 1985 Michael J. Fox movie Teen Wolf. So, he's got that going for him. . .which is nice.