Dream becomes reality for White after signing with Northwest Missouri

Louisburg senior Brayden White signed his letter of intent to play college football at Northwest Missouri State earlier this month.

On Feb. 5, Brayden White made his
way to downtown Kansas City to join almost a million other fans for a parade to
celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory in the Super Bowl.

For most people, that would be the
highlight of their day – not Brayden’s.

Earlier that morning, White made it official as he signed his letter of intent to play football at Northwest Missouri State on National Signing Day. He followed it up with a gathering of family and friends for a dinner and signing ceremony at Timbercreek later in the evening.

White’s dream of playing college
football is now real.

“The recruiting process is something I really can’t describe,” White said. “It is very weird and it is very, very long and very, very hard. But finding the school that wants you is just an amazing feeling. When you find a school that is good like Northwest, and wins like Northwest, it is also something I was looking for.

“It definitely feels like it hasn’t
happened yet. Once I get on campus and I am there, I think it will start to
feel more real. It feels great right now, but it hasn’t set in yet. It has been
a real good day.”

The Louisburg High School senior
began the recruiting process his freshman year and has traveled across the
country to different camps the last three years.

He made his way to camps at K-State,
KU, South Dakota and Air Force, just to name a few, and tried to get his name
out there as much as possible. It seemed to work as White had interest from
several area programs.

“It was real fun and I enjoyed
every bit of it,” White said of the recruiting experience. “I started my
freshman year with all the recruiting stuff and my dad and I did a bunch of
research of when to start and what you are supposed to do. I started going to
camps my freshman year as a nobody, and then started to pick up steam a little
my sophomore year. My junior year, I think the season we had really helped with
the senior class that we had and the undefeated league title. That honestly
probably helped the most.

“I had a lot of favorite camps
that I went to, but I never made it to a Northwest camp, but I wish I would
have. They ended up seeing me at the K-State camp and I am lucky that they saw
enough in me to offer me.”

Northwest Missouri State, which is a perennial national championship contender at the Division II level, made an offer to White that he couldn’t pass up – especially after taking his official visit on campus.

“It was definitely their style of play and the way they portray the team,” White said. “It is a family atmosphere and everyone has the same goal. Everyone wants to win and to do it together. That really stuck out to me and everything they have there from the way the coaches treat you, to the dorms, the other players and the facilities is just great. I would put them up against some Division I schools because they have such nice facilities. It is insane.”

White, who has earned All-Frontier League and all-state honors for his work on the offensive line, has played tackle for all of his high school career, but will be asked to move inside on the offensive line for the Bearcats – a challenge he is looking forward to taking on.

“The coaches have told me they
would like to see me at guard or center,” White said. “I am not quite tall
enough to be a tackle, which is a little weird to me because I have always been
one of the taller kids, but I am perfectly fine with being a guard. I think
they saw my film from my junior year when I would pull from the tackle spot to
the other side with Kiefer (Tucker) when we would run a counter tray. They want
a guard that can pull and an athletic lineman on the inside.”

Transitioning from high school
football to the college game is one that takes some time for a lot of athletes
to get accustomed to and a lot of freshman are asked to redshirt, but White is
ready to get to work with the Bearcats and compete for spot.

“They generally told most of us in
the class that we were going to be redshirted,” White said. “They said there
could be a couple of us that get that third spot on the line. More than likely,
I will redshirt, but I am still going to go in and compete for that third or
second-string spot. If I can suit up my first year, that is definitely my goal.”