Eagles LB Kyzir White hopes to cap his homecoming with a Super Bowl championship

There's an extra joy for White to be playing for his local team and to have the support of his family during the season and all the way to the sport's pinnacle of the Super Bowl.

Eagles linebacker Kyzir White flexes after stopping 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey short of the first down in the third quarter of the NFC championship game.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by Josh Tolentino

Published Feb. 7, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Kyzir White is Pennsylvania-bred, through and through. The Eagles linebacker takes pride in having the most authentic Philly accent on the team. His voice has a deep, distinctive tone. After the Allentown product signed with the Eagles as a free agent last offseason, White — joined by his parents, Tammy and Kevin, and his seven siblings — shouted from inside the team’s draft room: “I’m back in this jawwwwn! I’m back at the crib!”

“It was like a mixed bag of emotions, for real,” said White, who came over from the Los Angeles Chargers. “Part of it was excitement and joy to get the opportunity to come back home. The other part was unsureness just because I’m back home, and I can easily get distracted because I know so many people here.”

Over the past 10 months, White has relied heavily on his backbone — his family. For the first part of the regular season, White was living at his parents’ Lehigh County home in Orefield, frequently making the two-hour roundtrip commute to Philadelphia. Around mid-October, White relocated to an apartment in South Philadelphia, just a few minutes from Lincoln Financial Field.

“I’m a real big family guy,” White said. “I’m all about my family. Having my parents, my brothers, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, at every home game — they couldn’t come out see me in Cali like that — it’s a blessing.”

One-year ‘prove-it’ deal

White spent his first four NFL seasons with the Chargers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. Hitting the offseason for the first time in his career as a free agent, White received interest from multiple teams, but he and his representation never saw an ideal contract fit. Eventually, the Eagles emerged as a suitor with a short-term deal. In April, White signed a one-year contract worth $3 million.

Alongside fellow starter T.J. Edwards, White has helped provide stability to a position that has been widely scrutinized over the past decade.

“I had no idea where I wanted to go in free agency,” White said. “I heard a lot of the talk when I was coming in. But I wanted to come in and focus on me. Block out all the outside noise. I didn’t want to get into any comparisons. I wanted to stay focused ... I viewed [joining the Eagles] as a one-year, prove-it deal that would set myself up.”

In his first season with his hometown team, White is Super Bowl-bound.

“And now I’m playing on the biggest stage,” he said. “It’s my time.”

‘Fly, Eagles, Fly,’ baby!’

It’s Super Bowl week, and Kyzir White is seated from an undersized brown stool inside Celebre’s, a South Philly pizzeria. The kitchen’s aroma is strong of fresh dough, and the scent has wafted into the dining room — although this is White’s first time feasting at this restaurant, he acknowledges upon entering that we’ve selected a “good jawn” for a late-afternoon snack.

White is wearing a matching team-issued jumpsuit with the Eagles logo displayed prominently across his chest and also near his upper thigh. He has exactly 50 minutes before he needs to retreat to the NovaCare Complex for his scheduled haircut appointment. It requires him only a few seconds to scan the menu.

“One pepperoni slice, please,” White says, “And one plain — extra cheese.”

After emphasizing his request for extra cheese, White flashes a wide smile. He’s in disbelief that in less than a day, he’ll be heading to Arizona to play in the Super Bowl.

It’s been a full-circle dream for White, who grew up in the Allentown suburb of Macungie, where he attended Emmaus High School. Growing up, he’d venture to Eagles training camp practices at nearby Lehigh University. White adored some of the franchise’s most accomplished players, such as Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, and LeSean McCoy. White attended his first NFL game — famously known as the “Snow Bowl” — between the Eagles and Detroit Lions on Dec. 8, 2013 at Lincoln Financial Field.

“The Eagles are my team, man,” White says. “It was always, ‘Fly, Eagles, Fly,’ baby!”

White’s journey to the NFL is atypical. He had zero Division I offers coming out of high school, so he opted for the junior college route. White attended Lackawanna College, where he starred for two seasons. By his sophomore season, White was ranked the No. 1 junior college safety nationally, according to ESPN.

White transferred from Lackawanna to West Virginia, where he followed his older brother, Kevin, a wide receiver and first-round pick (No. 7 overall) in the 2015 draft by the Chicago Bears.

“I can talk to him about anything,” White said of his brother. “He’s no yes-man. He’s always going to tell me what I need to hear, and not what I want to hear. I feel like that’s helped me out a lot. He helps me with route concepts, if I get something caught on me, if I get beat on a route — I’ll hit him up, and he’ll put me on game.”

After the Chargers drafted him in 2018, the 6-foot-2, 216-pound White transitioned from playing safety to linebacker. During the 2021 season, White posted a career-high 144 tackles. His aggressiveness in attacking the football and his ability to also play in coverage were specific traits the Eagles viewed as a potential fit under defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon’s scheme.

“Kyzir has a pretty good feel for [coverage],” Gannon said earlier this season. “He has done that in the past, and he is fast. You don’t want to have a guy that’s spying the quarterback and can’t run him down. ... So, I think he has done a good job with that.”

Over the past two seasons, White has played in 36 of 36 possible games, including the playoffs. He has appeared in about 75% of defensive snaps with the Eagles, recording 117 tackles, which ranks second most on the team behind Edwards.

“Kyzir is such a solid piece for this defense,” Edwards said. “He’s an aggressive guy and that’s what you want with linebackers. You need linebackers harassing the box and showing good reaction to play-action. Kyzir is selfless.”

Upon his homecoming, White quickly gravitated toward Edwards, not only because they play the same position, but also because of Edwards’ backstory as an underrated free agent signing out of Wisconsin in 2019.

“T.J., that’s my dawg,” White said. “We’ve got a real good relationship. We both just want to see each other be great. Especially me, I really want to see him be great because hearing his journey, being undrafted and all, I’m always rooting for people like that. I look him as an underdog, and I view myself as an underdog. Having no offers out of high school, going juco, switching positions — I feel like I’ve been an underdog my whole life. He’s an underdog.”

Both linebackers are pending free agents with the Eagles possessing 10 starters, 11 including defensive end Brandon Graham, who are playing on expiring contracts. While not impossible, it’s difficult to imagine the Eagles resigning both White and Edwards with rookie Nakobe Dean waiting in their shadows.

The Edwards-White duo has helped provide stability across the middle of the defense, but White acknowledged he’s lacking at times, specifically in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, White ranked seventh on the team in coverage with a 62.8 grade. He’s hoping to write his own script in Super Bowl LVII, where Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce awaits.

Unprompted, White points out his familiarity with Kansas City’s offense. Over his first four seasons, the Chargers played the Chiefs eight times with both teams competing in the AFC West.

“They’ve got a good team, man. But I feel like our defense is going to play lights out,” White says. “Our D-line is crazy. Patrick Mahomes is going to have to run away from Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick all game. They’ve got to be up for the challenge, too. It isn’t just one-sided. I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be a good game.”

When asked pointedly to assess his own performance, White used the term “solid.” In addition to his chemistry with Edwards, he feels he’s been an asset to one of the league’s best defenses. However, White also expresses frustration regarding a specific department. Last season, he recorded a career-high two interceptions and two forced fumbles with the Chargers. This season, he’s yet to force a turnover, while the Eagles ranked third in turnover differential, plus-8.

With one final game remaining, White is aspiring to show he can be a difference maker.

“Hopefully I can get one,” he said of a turnover, “and it can be the icing in the cake in the Super Bowl.”

But before he hits football’s biggest stage, he’s making sure he brings a piece of Allentown with him. White said he spent nearly $50,000 on Super Bowl tickets designated for the same family members who joined him last March at the Eagles facility.

“With our team success, whatever we set out to accomplish, not only being in the Super Bowl, but we’re trying to raise that trophy,” he said. “We’re having a great year — and my family has been with me the whole ride. We didn’t come this far to not win it all.”