New England Patriots star James White addressed his father's death on Tuesday, touching on the difficulty he's having processing the loss while also wishing his son a happy birthday in an Instagram post.
White's father, Miami-Dade police Capt. Tyrone White Sr., died in a car crash in Florida Sunday afternoon, while White's mother was left with life-threatening injuries. The running back missed the Patriots' game against the Seattle Seahawks that evening, bringing an outpouring of support from teammates and others around the NFL.
On Tuesday, White posted two pictures of himself to Instagram: one of him as a child with his father, the other of him holding his own son, Xzavier, who is turning 1.
"Happy 1st birthday Xzavier! I hope I can be as good of a father to you as my father was to my brother and I! I still can’t quite process everything that’s going on right now but when I look at you, you give me life! May you Rest In Peace Dad, we miss you much already," White wrote in the caption.
Authorities offered new details about the crash in Cooper City Tuesday, including that Lisa White remains in critical condition in the hospital. A third person was sent to the hospital as well.
Early in Sunday night's game, one of White's current Patriots teammates also sent the running back some love. Devin McCourty scored a 43-yard pick-6 off a deflection, giving him his second career touchdown. He immediately ran directly in front of the end zone camera where he said, "2-8, we love you, bro!" in reference to White's jersey number, 28.
McCourty, who told White "we love you, bro," after scoring a touchdown off an interception, was one of several other teammates who said after Sunday's game that they were still trying to make sense of the tragedy.
"It put things in perspective," Matthew Slater said. "Football is a job for us. There are things in life that are so much bigger than this game. Today was a reminder of that. Life is such a fragile thing... For our brother to lose his father and his parents to be in that accident, I think it hit us all in the heart. I don't think we've processed it yet. I think that'll be something that takes time."
