Roddy White Sharod Lamor " Roddy " White ( born November 2 , 1981 ) is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was selected with the 27th pick overall in the 2005 NFL Draft out of University of Alabama at Birmingham ( UAB ) . Early years . White attended James Island High School in James Island , South Carolina , and was a four - sport letterman and standout in football , baseball , soccer , and wrestling . In football , he was a two - time All - Low Country honoree , a two - time All - State honoree , and was also listed as one of the top receivers in the nation on Rivals . com . In wrestling , he was a two - time state champion often pinning his opponent in a move that was coined the " Shanaz " . White attended University of Alabama at Birmingham ( UAB ) , where he was a standout wide receiver . In 2004 , White helped UAB to its first and to date , only bowl game . In the 2004 Hawaii Bowl , White caught six passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in a 59 - 40 defeat of the Blazers by Hawaii . Professional career . Atlanta Falcons . White saw instantaneous action in his rookie campaign . He ranked fourth among all rookie receivers in 2005 . Although a high ankle sprain caused him to remain on the sidelines for much of the preseason , he recovered by Week 2 of the 2005 season and was put on the team ' s roster . In Week 4 of the 2005 season , against the Minnesota Vikings , he was inserted in the lineup as the No . 3 receiver . During the course of the game he racked up 64 yards on 5 catches . However , during the rest of the season , his performance was spotty at best . He made a fantastic leaping catch over three defenders on a trick play against the New Orleans Saints during Week 14 for a 54 - yd touchdown , but dropped a touchdown catch the next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , although he had a 108 - yard receiving performance vs . Tampa Bay ( 11 / 20 ) which was the second - highest receiving total put up by a rookie wide receiver in 2005 , only surpassed by Jaguars WR Matt Jones ( 117 yards vs . Baltimore ) . In the Falcons 2007 game against the New Orleans Saints , White showed his support for fellow Falcon Michael Vick by wearing a t - shirt that said " Free Mike Vick " and pulling up his jersey after scoring a touchdown . Earlier that day , Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail on dogfighting charges . White was fined $ 10 , 000 by the league for his actions . Roddy White became the first Falcon WR since 1999 to reach 1 , 000 single season receiving yards on December 23 , 2007 . He also finished tied for 8th among all NFL wide receivers in receiving yards in 2007 with 1 , 202 yards . He had 6 receiving touchdowns . Roddy White ' s 2008 performance was even better than the previous year , finishing 4th in the NFL in receiving yards ( 3rd in the NFC ) . He finished the year with 1 , 382 receiving yards ( career high and team record ) , 88 receptions ( career high ) , and 7 touchdowns ( career high ) . He broke Alfred Jenkins team record of 1 , 358 receiving yards , which stood since 1981 . After his Week 14 performance in the team ' s 29 – 25 loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome , ESPN personality Chris Berman ( while reporting the highlights of the game on " SportsCenter " ) gave White the nickname " Rowdy " Roddy White , named after professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Fame r " Rowdy " Roddy Piper . Roddy White caught a touchdown pass in the playoffs game against the Arizona Cardinals , who defeated the Falcons . On December 16 , 2008 , White was named to the 2009 Pro Bowl along with fellow Falcons RB Michael Turner . Roddy White had 1 catch for 26 yards and 1 rush for 7 yards in the 2009 Pro Bowl . On July 31 , 2009 , White began a holdout , boycotting the 2009 training camp in an attempt at an early contract extension . On August 8 he signed a six - year , $ 48 million contract extension with $ 18 . 6 million guaranteed and $ 28 million dollars over the first three years of the deal . The extension makes him the 5th highest paid wide receiver in the league , behind Arizona ' s Larry Fitzgerald , Carolina ' s Steve Smith , Chicago ' s Brandon Marshall , and Houston ' s Andre Johnson . On October 11 , 2009 White became the all time receiving leader in yards in one game in Franchise history in a game against the 49ers . In this game White had 8 receptions for 210 yards , a career - high with a 90 yard touchdown catch and 2 touchdowns . He finished the 2009 season with 85 receptions 1 , 153 yards and a career high 11 touchdowns . He became only the second Falcon player to record three straight 1 , 000 yard seasons . On January 26 , 2010 , Roddy White was selected to his 2nd Consecutive Pro Bowl . Roddy White led the 2010 Pro Bowl in catches with 8 for 84 yards . In the first game of the 2010 season , Roddy White had a career - high 13 receptions . Through 16 games in 2010 Roddy White leads the NFL in receptions with 115 and the NFC in receiving yards with 1 , 389 . He also has 10 touchdowns for the year . He led the NFC Pro Bowl team with 69 yards . Roddy White has more yards ( 5 , 158 ) than any other receiver in the league since 2007 . On January 11 , 2012 White was added to the NFC Pro Bowl Roster replacing Lions WR Calvin Johnson due to sore Achilles . In 2011 Roddy White broke the Falcons all time receiving yards record . White is the father of three children and currently resides in Braselton , Georgia .