By the time Cody White caught his second touchdown pass Sunday, they knew who he was. The Las Vegas Raiders receiver, a 27-year-old practice squad call-up with more tackles than catches in his first six years in the NFL, was the surprise star of their 26-14 upset over the Chargers in Week 2. When he made a diving catch in the end zone for his first score Sunday, CBS' TV broadcast put up a graphic showing receiver Corey Rucker, a teammate who is on injured reserve.
"I saw the CBS [graphic], saw that fantasy football didn't have me, the Madden [snub]. I don't think anybody was ready for me to go for two touchdowns like I did," White told me over the phone. CBS had a smiling headshot of White ready when he got open and uncovered in the end zone for a second touchdown, and friends who had trouble finding him in fantasy football a week ago can now see him as a potential waiver-wire add like anyone else.
And for a player who'd scored just once in the NFL before Sunday, he came prepared with a pair of celebrations as well. "I've been in the league for seven years, so I know how hard it is to get to the end zone, so I want to go in there and have some fun," White said. "I think I found the first one on TikTok, and then the second one is just the Ronaldo and I pulled my lightsaber out like it was Star Wars." The Raiders might be the biggest surprise of the NFL's first two weeks, first beating the lowly Miami Dolphins but then going to Los Angeles and beating a Chargers team most saw as a likely playoff team.
White might be as unlikely a success story as his team is, too. He was cut by the Seattle Seahawks on cutdown day in August after earning a Super Bowl ring last season. He landed on the Raiders' practice squad under head coach Klint Kubiak, who had him as Seattle's offensive coordinator last year.
"From what I've seen, all the guys are buying into what Klint is selling, and the culture we're trying to build here," White said. White, long and lanky at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, showed enough in two weeks of practice that he was elevated to play in the Raiders' opener against Miami, and he had three tackles on special teams, one a touchdown-saving stop on a 79-yard kickoff return that earned him a game ball from coaches. He reverted to the practice squad after the game, but had been told early enough in the week that he would be elevated again that he was able to make sure his parents could fly in and attend the game, along with his brother Jordan, who lives in Los Angeles.
White played only seven offensive snaps — his bread-and-butter is still on special teams, where he has more career tackles (15) than catches (11) —but still managed to catch touchdowns on two of them. The Raiders can elevate him one more time from their practice squad, but after that, they'll have to move to add him to the 53-man roster if they want to play him again. "He’s just the same guy that I knew last year," Kubiak said after the game.
"I’m really proud of him. … When his number’s called, he’s making the plays and obviously makes us have to make decisions." His three years at Michigan State — including leading the Spartans with 66 catches, 966 yards and six touchdowns in 2019 — were also the last three for Mark Dantonio, who has enjoyed following White's career in his retirement. "He's hung in there, and when he's given an opportunity, the guy makes plays," Dantonio told me.
"Very smart player, good-natured, good teammate. Tall, big, makes the tough catch and will battle you for the ball. That catch radius, long arms.
He was a great player for us, and it's no surprise that he's still in the NFL, and hopefully this verifies that for him." White's father, Sheldon, played six years in the NFL as a cornerback and has worked the last 30 years in NFL and college personnel offices, the last four with the Steelers. So Cody understands the business of the NFL, and his path to the end zone Sunday wasn't an easy one. White went undrafted out of Michigan State in 2020, and when he reported to his first training camp with the Chiefs, he took his physical, picked up his helmet and was promptly told to turn in his playbook as he was being cut.
He signed with the Giants and was cut within a week, signed with the Broncos and was cut within two weeks, all in the same preseason. Then he spent a year on the Steelers' practice squad, all of 2021 on Pittsburgh's active roster, and just five games in three years before he found a role with Seattle in 2025, even scoring a 60-yard touchdown. He went on injured reserve in late December last year, but was part of a Super Bowl championship team.
"Just that resilience, the never-give-up mentality," White said. "Being on four teams my rookie year, now I'm in Year 7 and still able to contribute and make plays on Sundays, to help my team get wins. I love the game of football, and my mom and my dad taught me growing up to never give up, that if you start something, you have to finish it.
Here we are now."
