By Parker Johnson, reported and written for class assignment at Chicago Bears rookie minicamp
Finished May 5, 2019 (never published)
Kerrith Whyte Jr. sped up the sideline on a fly pattern the only way he knew how: fast.
Everybody around him – the Chicago Bears coaching staff, the media and the 83 other players invited to rookie camp – knew Whyte could run. When the deep throw was tipped by a defender, Whyte extended to make the fingertip catch, proving he was more than just the unofficial 4.36-second 40-yard dash time he ran at Florida Atlantic’s pro day.
“I couldn’t lose focus. If I lost focus, I would’ve dropped it,” said the assured 22-year-old rookie running back of the play that earned him praise at the end of day two.
Godspeed.
Growing up in Loxahatchee, Fla., Whyte was immersed in two things as a young boy, two institutions that have stood the test of time and become invariably intertwined.
Whyte picked up the game of football at age six. He wanted to try out for basketball to take after his older sister, but when his mother took him to the recreational center for signups, basketball was full and flag football was the only sport open. He picked it up like a natural.
“(I’ve known I was fast) since I was six years old. I started playing flag football and noticed I was running past everyone,” Whyte said.
The second part of the equation came off the field. Whyte has been close with God for as long as he can remember.
“I grew up in the church, so I formed a relationship with God from way back. I never lost that,” White said. “He’s brought me so far. He brought me through hard times, and He’s been with me in the good times.”
“I have to give Him all the praise because He’s been so good to me. He deserves it, and more.”
Godspeed.
At FAU, Whyte built a reputation around his quickness. He tallied 1,026 yards and 10 touchdowns from scrimmage as a running back and ranked fifth in the NCAA in 2018 with a 28.7-yard kick return average. All the production came while splitting carries with 2019 third-round draft pick Devin Singletary.
“The speed jumps out,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said of Whyte. “Once we get a good feel for what his strengths are, we need to fit those in to what we do.
You won’t find many coaches saying they “need” a seventh-round pick in their offenses after three days of rookie camp, but that is the impression Whyte has made.
“He’s a lightning bolt – a straight line speed guy who can go the distance at any time,” said Jeff Joniak, the Bears’ play-by-play radio announcer. “He does give them a different flavor, and Matt (Nagy) loves a buffet of choices.”
Whyte has earned his share of press in his first three days on the practice field – no small feat considering the attention paid to the Bears’ woeful kicking situation. But one question lingers about the decision-making of the backup running back.
With Singletary’s 261 carries and 22 touchdowns set to graduate, Whyte possessed uncertain draft stock and another year of eligibility. The table was set for Whyte to make a name of himself in his final season with the Owls. Why would he pass that up?
Godspeed.
The decision was already made. Whyte had no choice but to accept it.
The Owls had just annihilated Akron in the 2017 Boca Raton Bowl, a default home game for FAU, 50-3. The capstone to his sophomore campaign, Whyte registered 45 total yards on six touches. What happened next was perplexing, even to Whyte.
“After the bowl game in 2017, something came over my heart. I prayed about it continuously and asked God for guidance and direction. I got my answer,” Whyte said.
The message from God was to leave for the NFL after the upcoming season.
“Even myself, I didn’t want to believe the answer,” he said. “I still continued to pray about it, and my answer became clearer. My decision was made way before the season even started … thankfully I had a good season, and everything worked out and I declared.”
Since his earliest days in Florida, Whyte has placed the same immovable trust in himself and in the higher powers that guide him. Doubt is a dirty word, a curse that need not be invited.
“I told myself every day I was going to get drafted. I spoke it into existence,” Whyte said. “Once I committed to it, it was sealed. I was 100 percent sold on it.”
If faith is what put Kerrith Whyte on the Bears’ practice field running that fly pattern on Saturday, he is still the one that hauled it in.
Whyte took the guidance and ran with it. Now, it looks like he’ll be adding a little something to his Sunday routine this fall.
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