Former Texas A&M-Commerce and Pittsburgh Steelers football standout Dwight White died on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

White won four letters for the Lions from 1967 to 1970 and then joined the Steelers for the 1971 season. As a Lion, White was Honorable Mention All-America and first-team All-Lone Star Conference as a senior. He was second-team All-Texas as a senior and was second-team All-LSC as a junior. White was the Lions Most Valuable Defensive Lineman in 1970 and was one of three team captains that season. In addition, during his senior season, he was Associated Press and NAIA All-American. In 1984, he was inducted into the A&M-Commerce Hall of Fame. In 2007, he was named to the 75th Anniversary All-Lone Star Conference Football Team.

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Article from Pittsburgh Steelers website
Dwight White July 30, 1949 - June 6, 2008

The Steelers are saddened by the death of Dwight White, a member of the Steel Curtain and the Steelers 75th Season All-Time Team.

Funeral services are scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at noon at Calvary Episcopal Church, 315 Shady Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.

Please note that in lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Dwight's memory be sent to The August Wilson Center of African American Culture at 425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1750, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney on the Death of Dwight White

Dwight White was one of the greatest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform. He was a key member of the Steel Curtain defense and a member of the greatest defensive line in NFL history. He played with a relentlessness that led us to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s. Dwight refused to be denied, as was evidenced when he walked out of the hospital with pneumonia to play in Super Bowl IX and had an outstanding game, scoring our first points by sacking Fran Tarkenton for a safety.

Dwight will be remembered by those who knew him even more for being a wonderful and caring person. He was committed to the city of Pittsburgh and was always willing to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself. Our prayers go out to his family. We will miss Dwight, but we will never forget everything he meant to the Steelers organization.

Steelers President Art Rooney II on the Death of Dwight White

We have lost an important member of the Steelers family in Dwight White. His sudden death is a shock to us all. He was a dear friend.

Dwight should be remembered by fans as a great football player, one who perhaps did not receive the accolades he deserved for helping make the Steelers truly a national team. He always seemed to rise to the occasion when it counted most, and added an element of toughness that was synonymous with our teams of the 1970s.

We all knew him as "Mad Dog", but Dwight was a caring person who was very active in local charities. He also had a special gift that enabled him to liven up any room that he entered. Our prayers go out to Dwight's family at this extremely difficult time. They will remain a member of the Steelers family, just as Dwight will always be in our thoughts.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell on the Death of Dwight White

Governor Edward G. Rendell today expressed sorrow upon learning of the death of his friend, former Pittsburgh Steeler defensive end Dwight White. White served as chairman of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

"Dwight was not only a world-class athlete, he was a thoughtful and outspoken individual who cared deeply about his family, his community, and his state," Governor Rendell said. "His NFL nickname, Mad Dog, belied the fact that he was a true gentleman and an accomplished business leader. After retiring from football, he entered the financial services industry with the same tenacity and determination he showed on the football field.

"Midge and I express our condolences to Dwight's wife, Karen, and their daughter, Stacey."

White most recently served as senior managing director of public finance for Mesirow Financial and worked out of the firm's Pittsburgh office. He was involved with numerous charities, including the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries, the Boy Scouts of America, PACE School and Rebuilding Pittsburgh.

White was a member of the board of trustees for Seton Hill University and was a motivational speaker for many organizations and corporations.

White's most memorable moment with the Steelers occurred at Super Bowl IX. He came down with pneumonia before the game and had to be hospitalized. The Steelers weren't going to play him, but he was released from the hospital the morning of the game. White sacked Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton for a safety midway through the second quarter, accounting for the first points in the Steelers' Super Bowl history.

After the Steelers had beaten the Vikings, 16-6, to win the first of what would be four Super Bowls in the '70s, White returned to the hospital.

Known for his intensity on the field, White had another side to him as well.

"When I think of Dwight White, I think about a guy who was a hard-nosed football player but had a great sense of humor," said former Steelers cornerback Mel Blount, who also won four Super Bowls with the Steelers. "Really funny guy, always kept the locker room loose and lively."

White worked as a stockbroker after retiring from football, and the Virginia native also became active in the community.

"He made the transition from football to private life as well as anyone I knew," Greene said.

White was involved with a number of charities, and he and his wife, Karen, helped the August Wilson Center for African American Culture raise almost $30 million for the construction of a facility.

In lieu of flowers, White's family has asked that donations in his memory be made to the August Wilson Center, 425 Sixth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

"I was always impressed with him as a human being," said Stephen S. Barrett, president of Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services (BVRS) of Pittsburgh. "He didn't talk about being a member of the Steel Curtain. He was just an ordinary, friendly and very warm person."

White served on BVRS' board of directors, and Barrett said his work for the organization represented only a fraction of what White did for others.

"He used to tell me about the work he and other charities were doing with building affordable housing and neighborhood redevelopment," Barrett said. "He just had a lot of interests in the community."

White lived in O'Hara, and in addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Stacey.

His funeral has been scheduled for Wednesday at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside.

"He was a guy that whatever he did, he was going to try and be the best and give it his all, and he did that," Blount said. "He's a friend, and he's a guy I admired. I am really saddened by his death."

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Article from Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Dwight White, a key player on the "Steel Curtain" defenses who became as successful off the football field as he had been on it, died Friday afternoon in a Pittsburgh hospital. White, who leaves behind a wife and a daughter, would have turned 59 at the end of next month. The cause of the former Steeler's death, less than a month after he had back surgery, was not released. He died at 12:50 p.m. at UPMC Presbyterian.

News of White's passing shocked and saddened those who knew him. Joe Greene said he was "angry" at the loss of his teammate and close friend.

"I'm disappointed and hurt and angry," Greene said. "This is something that I don't think should have happened."

The Steelers released statements from team Chairman Dan Rooney and President Art Rooney II, but they provided few details about White's death because of his wife's request for privacy. Greene said White had back surgery in the middle of May and that he talked to him a couple of days after the operation, though only briefly because White was still in so much pain.

About a week later, Greene said, he got a call from L.C. Greenwood, who started opposite White on the Steelers' defensive line in the 1970s. Greenwood told Greene that White had gone back into the hospital and had been placed in intensive care.

"He went in for back surgery, he comes out, then has to go back in -- and he didn't come out again," said Greene, who works for the Steelers' player personnel department. "I just need some answers. That's why I'm angry."

White is the second member of the original "Steel Curtain" front four to die this year; Ernie Holmes was killed in a car crash in Texas in January.

A fourth-round draft pick out of East Texas State (now Texas A&M-Commerce) in 1971, White played for the Steelers his entire career and retired after the 1980 season.

Though overshadowed at times on a defense that had four future Pro Football Hall of Famers, White wreaked the same havoc he had at East Texas State, where he was given the nickname "Mad Dog."

He finished his career with 46 sacks -- seventh on the Steelers' all-time list -- twice made the Pro Bowl and was selected to the Steelers' all-time team as part of the franchise's 75th anniversary celebration last year.

Dan Rooney called him "one of the greatest players to ever wear a Steelers uniform."