New England Patriots running back James White, who scored the title-winning touchdown in last Sunday’s Super Bowl, has a new truck for his effort thanks to television show host Conan O’Brien.
The surprise move came Thursday on the Turner Broadcasting show and stemmed from comments by Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Tom Brady after his team’s 34-28 victory over Atlanta in Houston.
Brady, the first quarterback to win five Super Bowl crowns, had given away the truck he received as MVP from Super Bowl 49 two years ago to cornerback Malcolm Butler, who made a late game-saving interception to hold off Seattle.
Brady said after Sunday’s victory in Super Bowl 51 that White was deserving of such an honor, but Super Bowl MVPs no longer receive a truck, so Brady had nothing to bestow upon the talented 25-year-old rusher.
Enter O’Brien, a New England native, who invited White on his TV show and shocked him by presenting him a Ford F-150 as audience members roared with approval.
White scored three touchdowns and made a two-point conversion for a record 20 points in the Super Bowl, capping the eight-play, 75-yard overtime drive to victory with a 2-yard touchdown run.
“James White, he is just everything you want in a teammate,” Brady said. “We kept going to him. That speaks for itself.”
In all, White carried six times for 28 yards and two touchdowns and made a Super Bowl-record 14 catches from Brady for 110 yards and a touchdown.
“I wouldn’t get 14 catches if he wasn’t throwing me the ball,” White told O’Brien. “He’s more than well deserving of that award. He’s our leader. He’s the reason we fought back into that game.”
White, a fourth-round 2014 NFL Draft pick, is still working off a deal signed as a rookie that will pay him only $690,000 next season.
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