LenDale White has carried himself well from the time he teamed with Reggie Bush in the USC backfield to his current role with the Tennessee Titans.
The problem was he had a lot to carry.
But now there's a new, sleeker LenDale White. The soft middle and pudgy jawline disappeared after White dropped to about 230 pounds during the offseason.
That's 30 pounds he won't have to lug around for four quarters of football. White said he was as heavy as 265 pounds last season when he ran for a career-long 80-yard touchdown.
His secret?
"I really got to be honest," White told The Associated Press. "It wasn't a lot of major diet changes. [It was] watching what I drink. I was a big Patron consumer. That's what it was. I was drinking a lot, drank a lot of alcohol. I cut that out of my diet all the way. I don't drink at all. I cut the drinking, I stopped drinking for six months.
"It started falling off."
Before we rush to any conclusions and do something rash -- like emptying tequila bottles into the drain -- let's analyze White's plan. By cutting out Patron, White would have eliminated 104 calories per 1.5 fluid ounce shot. A one ounce shot of Silver Patron contains only 69 calories.
Thirty pounds, just by eliminating a 0 fat, 0 carb drink with the calorie count of 10 cashews?
Whatever the reason, teammates have noticed. They also lost a few off-season bets when the trimmer White arrived at training camp last month.
"Hopefully, he'll be able to last longer than he has in the past and go deep in the season and help us out," All-Pro left tackle Michael Roos said. "We've still got time to see what happens, but he's looking good so far."
The second-round pick in the 2006 draft led the AFC last year with 15 touchdowns rushing and tied for third in the NFL in scoring among non-kickers. He did so while splitting time with rookie Chris Johnson in the Titans' backfield.
