Surprise! Mike White chooses football, Dolphins choose him, to complete homecoming tale

Mike White learned his lesson as a rookie with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dolphins were reminded of their lesson last season.

Never underestimate the importance of the backup quarterback.

The Dolphins, who experienced the NFL’s only perfect season thanks to a backup quarterback, have put a premium on the role, bringing White home to back up Tua Tagovailoa.

This will mark the third consecutive season the Dolphins have a different local man in the role, but they have reason to think White can do what Jacoby Brissett and Teddy Bridgewater could not. White has hit enough highs in his career that All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman once called him a franchise quarterback.

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Not bad for a guy who hasn't even started the equivalent of half a season. In those seven starts the past two years, White threw for at least 250 yards five times, topped 300 yards three times and, most notably, enjoyed a 405-yard, three-touchdown day against Cincinnati that earned him the nickname “Mike Effin White.”

Those accolades might seem as if they came out of nowhere. Then again, so did Mike White.

Mike White cheered for Dolphins, did not dream of joining them

When he was in middle school, White was close enough to Dolphins practices that he could hear the noise in his classrooms. When he was in high school, he was close enough to the practices he could virtually rub elbows with players. It doesn’t require much imagination to paint White signing with the Dolphins as the culmination of a lifelong dream, but White would be the first to say that’s not how it worked.

Yes, he was a Dolphins fan growing up. He can tell you all about Ronnie Brown running the Wildcat. He can tell you about running around in his own Ronnie Brown jersey. But …

“I didn’t think I was going to be in the NFL,” said White, who signed a two-year, $8 million contract. “I was more of a baseball player. My goals were the MLB. I kind of caught on late with football.”

The lure of a full scholarship in football made the decision for White. Now, his wife’s roots in Tampa, where they live in the offseason, made the choice of where to sign just as easy.

White familiar with AFC East, Dolphins' system

Plus, White knows the AFC East, having spent portions of the past four seasons with the Jets. And he knows the Dolphins’ offense, also via the Jets.

“That was one of the pluses of coming to Miami, was it’s the same system now,” White said. “I’m sure there’s different verbiage and things like that, but down to its core, it’s the same system. So it’ll be definitely easier than learning a brand-new system.”

White, who turns 28 on Saturday, was drafted in the fifth round by the Cowboys in 2018 but was deep on the depth chart.

“I kind of took it for granted and didn’t really stay mentally locked in,” he said. “So when it was time to compete, I didn’t feel as prepared as I should. And I learned from that mistake.”

White said he takes any backup quarterback’s best practices with him as he joins the Dolphins.

“You’re supporting the guy and saying, ‘Hey, man, this is what I see,’ ” White said. “That’s kind of my plan of action going into it. It’s just being a sounding board for whoever and helping however I can.”

It hurt missing game vs. Dolphins

That’s not to suggest White doesn’t want to be the one connecting with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. He does. He still thinks about last season’s finale when the Jets started Joe Flacco at Hard Rock Stadium because White had broken ribs.

“I thought it would have been really, really cool to be able to have all my family out and play in the stadium I grew up going to,” White said.

Instead, “it sucked” missing the game. But after toughing it out with multiple broken ribs to that point, White was given no choice by doctors.

“I’m proud because I didn’t tap out,” he said. “Hopefully my toughness isn’t in question, but it was a good learning experience. I’m just happy to prove I’m not just one of those sissy quarterbacks that people like to make fun of from time to time.”

White didn’t get hooked on the position, or the sport, until his senior year at University School. The campus is adjacent to Nova Southeastern University, where the Dolphins used to train. White landed a scholarship offer from South Florida only on the strength of his senior year, building tape each Friday night to satisfy college coaches intrigued by his potential but fearful of the fact there was no film for them to watch from his junior year.

“So they couldn’t pull the trigger on an offer,” he said.

Eventually, USF was convinced White was the right choice. And White was convinced football was the right choice. He no longer was a pitcher.

“Football, I found out, gave full rides and baseball doesn’t,” he said.

So the sport Mike White didn’t expect to play became his career. And the team he didn’t expect to play for brought him back home.

“It is funny, looking on on it,” White said. “Like, I would be at practice for baseball right next to the (Dolphins') bubble. And you would see the facility all the time and still it never really crossed my mind that this could be an opportunity.”

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter  @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mike White didn't expect to land with Dolphins (but is glad he did)