DETROIT – In the third quarter of Sunday's divisional round game at Ford Field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White caught a 12-yard pass from Baker Mayfield with just 16 seconds left. This brought Tampa Bay just one more point closer to a draw against the Detroit Lions at 17:17.
White celebrated the moment with the Blade Dance, also known as the Boss Up Dance, a dance popularized by the late Detroit hip-hop icon Blade Icewood (Darnell Lindsay). The act sent Detroiters into an uproar on social media, outraged that White made the gesture and is neither from Detroit nor Michigan, but from Kansas City.
After the Buccaneers' 31-23 loss to the Lions, White learned that the Detroiters were unhappy with him. He explained that while he wasn't from Detroit, his teammate Will Gholston was, and that's where he learned the transition.
“(Gholston) did it once. He was released when we played someone in Tampa. And I asked him about the dance. I thought it was cool,” White told MLive. “And then he just explained to me where it came from, who it was from and so on. So the most important thing is that they can say whatever they want to say, but it wasn't disrespectful; it was a tribute.”
White finished the game with 91 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. The second-year running back acknowledged the challenging atmosphere created by the crowd at Ford Field, calling it one of the loudest environments the Buccaneers have encountered this season. He believes this played a role in various factors that led to his team's frustration.
“I just think they made us do it in just a few games,” White said. “I mean, we moved the ball, we got in the red zone and they did a good job of applying pressure, but the biggest thing was just the noise. So you're trying to communicate, but you're trying to figure it out. But sometimes the noise and crowds just got too loud. So communication was broken.”
Despite coming off a recent loss, White didn't hesitate to give his prediction for next week's NFC Championship game, as the Lions will travel to Santa Clara to take on the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday.
“I think it will be good. “It’s going to be a good, low-scoring game,” White said. “I think both teams will fight until the end. The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins.”