The New England Patriots' players dedicated their team's 36-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders to running back James White, whose father, Tyrone, died in a car accident last Sunday. His mother Lisa was also injured.
"A lot of us, we think about him every single day and his situation. He's just an unbelievable person, player and leader of this team. So him being away, and of course the situation him and his family are going through, it's sad," Rex Burkhead said. "He's a brother to me. I really feel his pain in this whole situation. It's tough."
Burkhead replaced White and rushed for 3 touchdowns while contributing to the team's massive 250 total rushing yards.
"We just want to reward him and put him in good spirits," quarterback Cam Newton said. "We're excited like heck to hopefully get him back here soon. We've been praying for him, and we need 'Sweet Feet' back."
White has played for the Patriots for seven years. He's been a captain for the last three seasons.
"It did give us motivation to go out there and play for him because you know for a fact the kind of guy James White is, if something like that happened to one of us, he would do the same thing," Julian Edelman remarked. "It's been a real tough situation and my heart, prayers, love and everything goes towards him and his family."
The Patriots will take on the Kansas City Chiefs, next week.
[Via]