Tre'Davious White signed a four-year extension with the Bills over the weekend making White the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
White spoke to the media Monday about his contract extension where he got emotional and spoke from the heart on his family and how he has worked so hard to get where he is.
Here are five takeaways from what he said.
1. White reflects on his journey
So far in White's career, he never took a chance took soak it all in and reflect on what his football life has been like. He got a chance to do that on Saturday after he signed his life-changing contract extension.
"Honestly since I've been playing," White stated. "I've never taken a second to sit back and look back at everything that I was able to accomplish and do. I didn't really do that until I talked to my dad on Saturday before I signed, and that's when the emotions came out. I was talking to him and I was just reflecting, and I said dad I never in my life, imagined this. I've always been trying to get better and consistently working on my craft. I said dad I never was able to sit down and look at all the things that I have been able to accomplish with the help of so many people from when I started playing sports. I never took the time to reflect and I said dad, at the age of 25, and after only three years of playing in the league, I could say that no matter how long it lasts that we were the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. I can say that I was the highest-paid guy in my position at a point in my career. That is something that is very emotional to me and is something that I can't put into words. I know everything that I've put into my craft and everything that I've put into myself."
2. A weight lifted off his shoulders
Tre'Davious White can now go into this season knowing that he will be able to take care of his family for years to come. That has taken a lot of stress off him, and he is so happy he can re-pay his parents for all that they did for him.
"I honestly can't put into words how thankful and how blessed that I am to be in this position," White said with emotion. "I never would have thought that me grinding my whole life, continuing to work out, doing hella workouts, and going to camps. My dad took me to camps and he was crazy tired, he used to ride from Dallas to pick me up from Shreveport to take me back to Texas to a camp. All those things came into my mind when I was able to finally call my parents on three-way. I told them I never told you guys this after I got drafted but I can finally say that we did it. Once I told my dad and my mom, it was a like whole load was lifted on my shoulders because I knew I could retire my parents, and they never will have to worry about anything."
3. He has more to prove
White is grateful for the opportunities he has been given with the Bills organization, but he feels like he still has more to prove to everyone.
"I didn't want to go into the NFL and say yeah, I played a little," White explained. "I wanted to get here and cement my name into something. Honestly, I wanted to get the next deal and I achieved that, so now it's about being consistent and continuing to try to get better each and every day. I've been working extremely hard to do that, and now I look around and I don't see a number 27 on our wall of fame so why not be the first 27 to be up there. That's next on my bucket list, so if I could do that and win a Super Bowl for Buffalo with my teammates. I want to go out and be remembered as one of the best cornerbacks in Bills history and be one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history. I feel like I've done a great job so until then I'm still working, and I got a long way to go."
4. Changing people's lives
Tre'Davious White wants to use this contract not on himself but to help his family and his loved ones around him.
"I can't put it into words," White added. "Because I have a lot of people and a lot of family members that I could change their lives and that's what I plan to do. I wasn't put in this position for no reason. I wasn't put in this position to do it for myself, to reap all the benefits for myself, or to think that I'm bigger than anybody else. I was put in this position to spread the love and spread everything that I've been blessed with. I want to help people out and better the resources that they have and to give them the resources to be successful. I plan to do that because, like I told you guys like a month ago, there are a lot of people in my family that are hurting so I'm planning on lightening that burden on them and we're going to do it together. With this contract, it's not about me. I've been good, off the first [contract], but this is about people that I love, and I genuinely care about."
5. A message for the kids
The Bills cornerback is one of the first of his family to graduate college, and he wants to send a message on how important a college education is.
"Once those kids saw that," White explained. "I was thinking about my neighborhood when I was making that decision [to go pro or stay in college]. If they see me and ask that's what it's all about, the money right. I say no, you have to get your education because no matter what when the football stuff is over with, I can always say that I'm a college graduate. I'm one of the first in my family to do it, so I was thinking about stuff like that. It is so much bigger than just playing a game. I think that my whole message was to break the cycle of what kids thought and their mindset about what life should be about."
