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Ka’Raun White aiming to go from the warehouse to the NFL

West Virginia receiver Ka’Raun White discusses his draft prospects after West Virginia’s pro day workouts Thursday in Morgantown.

 

COMMENTARY

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For all the supposed pressure attached to these pro day drills, darting from cone to cone in a micro-timed exercise to convince NFL eyeballs, Ka’Raun White greatly prefers it to his stint working inside an Amazon warehouse, where mere seconds defined him and the rewards didn’t involved hundred-thousand-dollar contracts.

“I was working from 7 in the morning to 5:30, and it was hot in there,” he said. “Your times had to be good or you’d get written up.”

That Ka’Raun White had given up on football after rarely seeing the field as a high school player in Emmaus, Pa. That Ka’Raun was 19 and carried no delusions about becoming a college receiver, maybe not even a college student.

“It was over. I was done,” he said.

Which made 24-year-old Ka’Raun gleefully reflective Thursday at West Virginia’s pro day encore to his steady performance at the combine.

White figures to land on an NFL roster this summer, something his younger self never would have fathomed. He wasn’t just overlooked by college recruiters, he was overlooked by everybody — standing under 5-foot-10 when an injury sidelined him for his senior season in high school. So he went to work, at the Amazon job and one other company, until he sat in the stands at at Lackawanna junior college game, watching older brother Kevin develop into a FBS prospect.

When Kevin signed with West Virginia, Ka’Raun set out to squeeze into a D-II program, like Bloomsburg and West Chester, “just to go to school and walk-on.” After Kevin suggested giving Lackawanna a try, Ka’Raun showed enough during a tryout with the receivers coach to earn a spot.

Two years later, when Kevin became an All-American at WVU and a first-round pick of the Bears, Ka’Raun stood 6-foot-1 and was being recruited by the Mountaineers too.

Some 124 catches and 17 touchdowns later, he’s an intriguing case for scouts. In Indianapolis, teams wanted to learn more about his two-year break from football, a period when his only lifting involved shipping boxes. White’s strength wasn’t an issue at the combine however, when he led all receivers by benching 24 reps of 225 pounds. The position average was 14.

“Calvin Ridley was like ‘Dang.’ I had to show him I ain’t weak,” White joked. “I wanted to do more than 25 reps, but as long as I came in first, I was fine with that. I guess those guys didn’t see that coming.”

A few guys did, like Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk and New Mexico State’s Jaleel Scott, both of whom did their pre-combine training alongside White at Exos facility in Phoenix. Ka’Raun’s brother, Kyzir, who figures to be an early-round selection was there too.

“Ka’Raun’s real strong, even though he looks kinda thin,” Kyzir said. “I knew he’d bench a high number.”

The 4.52 speed Ka’Raun showed in the combine 40 left him unsatisfied: “I was supposed to clock in at 4.45.” Yet it was satisfactory enough for his agent, who advised against re-running the 40 in Morgantown.

“He didn’t want me to pull anything because I’ve got team workouts coming up,” Ka’Raun said.

After three months of dieting on salmon, grilled chicken, sweet potatoes and veggies, the White brothers cherished a recent cheat day of pizza. Come April 26-28, when the draft unfolds in Arlington, Texas, there will likely be some pizza-sharing around their home in Eastern Pennsylvania. Kyzir is pegged as a big safety by some teams, a small linebacker in other schemes.

“Kyzir’s got a chance to break first round, but I don’t know about me. Wherever I go, they’re going to get a steal,” said Ka’Raun, who will turn 25 before his first NFL training camp. That’s ancient by rookie standards, yet he hopes teams realize they’re gaining a late-bloomer with emotional maturity in tow.

“Four or five years ago I never would’ve seen it coming. Maybe for Kyzir or Kevin, but not me,” he said. “If it wasn’t for Kevin getting his dreams rolling at Lackawanna, I’d probably still be working in a warehouse.”





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