 White earned the highest grades in the first-year class, but he turned down an editorship of the "Yale Law Journal" and took a leave of absence to play football with the Detroit Lions, again leading the league in rushing in 1940.In three NFL seasons, he played in 33 games.He led the league in rushing yards in 1938 and 1940, and he was one of the first "big money" NFL players, making $15,000 per year ().