Very sad news hit the USC community hard on Wednesday. Charles White, the 1979 Heisman Trophy winner and a national champion at USC, died at the age of 64 from cancer.
White is the first of USC’s eight Heisman winners to die. His holistic health and well-being were clearly and substantially affected by the physical toll of football. White was, pound for pound, the best running back in USC history. He was as tough a football player and Trojan as any who have ever lived. That toughness lifted White to the Heisman and USC to national championship heights, but it carried a significant cost. White’s erratic behavior after his USC playing days was not a product of deficient character; it was simply a product of diminished health and mental clarity. This violent, brutal sport gave White both supreme glory and profound suffering.
The memories of White’s football feats are special and luminous. The awareness of football’s merciless toll on the human brain and body is something which cannot be ignored. Both elements — the good and bad — are part of Charles White’s story.
We invite you to read Bill Plaschke’s important Los Angeles Times story on White from 2022.
We also put together a Heisman profile of White just before Caleb Williams joined him as USC’s newest Heisman winner.
Also read our retrospective on USC’s all-time greatest offensive players.
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