Not too many cities can say on an uneventful weekend, two Super Bowl MVP’s are quietly strolling around town, but that’s exactly what happened this weekend when former Dallas Cowboys great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White was in Tyler along with Whitehouse native Patrick Mahomes.

And while their paths did not cross over the weekend, White, the Super Bowl XII MVP, talked about the moment he became a Patrick Mahomes fan. It was during the Super Bowl as he was watching the game cheering for Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

“He’s a great guy, I’m a fan of Andy Reid, I always have been,” said White. “He’s done a great job no matter where he’s gone, but until this season, he never won a Super Bowl. So I was pulling for Andy Reid.”

Like most, he was watching the Super Bowl and hoping Reid could pull off the comeback when he noticed something. A respect players used to give the late Tom Landry when he coached the Dallas Cowboys.

“In that Super Bowl game, Andy Reid was talking to Mahomes like he does to all his players, when he talked to players it’s almost like he is talking to his kid. When he was done, Mahomes looked up to him and said, ‘Yes sir.’ And I went, ‘Wow.’ Patrick, I was a fan of yours before, but now I’m an even bigger fan of yours. You show respect and all of those things,” said White. “He is a great role model for kids to look at. You want to be like someone? Be like Mahomes. That’s a good thing.”

As for on the field, White said, “How do you not like Mahomes? He’s a good kid, he’s got the right kind of energy, he’s entertaining, he’s fun to watch.”

Of course Mahomes engineered an amazing fourth-quarter comeback erasing a 20-10 deficit as the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-20. Mahomes was named the Super Bowl LIV MVP.

White came into the league as a linebacker in 1975 (he was the second overall draft pick) and moved to defensive tackle in 1977. Could a defensive lineman ever win an MVP again?

“The game is so geared toward offense and scoring. It will be tough for a defensive guy to become MVP of a Super Bowl like Harvey (Martin) and I were co-MVPs, Richard Dent of the ‘85 Bears was MVP and Chuck Howley was an MVP in a losing game when the Cowboys lost the Super Bowl, but it’s possible,” White said. “You have to have a pass rush. You can’t win a game in the NFL today without a pass rush. If there is one guy on a given Super Bowl Sunday who has a great day rushing the passer and making great plays, he could be an MVP.”

There is a new movement for defensive linemen to learn MMA, or mixed martial arts, to get around offensive linemen. A program called MMAFx (mixed martial arts football cross training) is a popular program run by Bruce Lombard of LombardMMA. A dozen players have used the program to get to the NFL and Lombard, who started with Penn State football players, now works with NFL players and college players at Alabama, Oklahoma, Washington and other ranks of the NCAA as well.

White smiles when he hears this as his training was groundbreaking and made him a Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman. He doesn’t understand why more players are not using the additional training. White’s famous nickname is the “Manster” (half man, half monster) when he was dubbed the strongest man in the NFL. But the NFL is full of strong men. He had to be better than just strong.

“We started it! Our strength coach back in 1976. Bob Ward, when he came, he introduced us to the martial arts,” explained White. “Bob brought in Dan Inosanto and the Bruce Lee-style of martial arts, we adopted that. We started training that back in 1976 before anybody ever heard of it.”

As for what Lombard is doing, White said, “It’s good to see these people are carrying it on.”

White then says with a laugh, “I think it was lost over the years and it could be rejuvenated, but nobody called me!”

He said you see it in the game today.

“You watch the game, it’s all hand-fighting now. The better you are with your hands, the better you are with timing and distance, the better football player you will be in general,” said White. “It’s not the absolute, but if you have it and the other guy doesn’t? You are definitely at an advantage.”

White also talked about the current Dallas Cowboys and the contract dispute with quarterback Dak Prescott, who he hopes re-signs.

“Well … I don’t know much about it, but I know this: If someone would have offered me $33 million dollars a year to play football, I would have been at their house waiting for them at their front door,” he joked. “But times have changed since I played. I think they are all waiting for this collective bargaining agreement to go through, see how much money the owners have and where everything sits and I’m sure they will work it out.

“I hope they do (sign him). Dak’s a great quarterback and I think he will be good for the Dallas Cowboys moving forward. That’s a part of the game today, the money part is a lot bigger part from when I played,” White added.

There is also a looming vote for current and retired players and increasing the schedule from 16 games to 17 NFL games.

“I’ve heard some players say they didn’t want that collective bargaining agreement, but it would help a lot of the older players in terms of their pension and their health care,” White said. “We do not get that, the pre-93’s, (retired after 1993) there are only 4,500 of us left, so I will be very discouraged if they turn that down and do not help the former players, the ones who paved the way, in my opinion, the luxury and position to play the game today.

“More games, it’s all about the money. More games means more money. You talk about injuries, the brain injuries and physical injuries, one more game gives you a chance to get hurt. So I see why some of the current players are saying, ‘Whoa, wait a minute’ as the compensation they are getting for that one game is, I think $250,000 which is a lot less than their game checks are. Politics, politics, politics has filtered into football and I hate to see that happen,” White said. “But as a fan and a fan of the Cowboys, I hope they get it all worked out and we can get back to the playoffs in the near future and back to the Super Bowl and have a chance to be the World Champions.”

As for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, White said, “Jerry is adamant about getting back to the Super Bowl. I hope Mike McCarthy is the guy, I hope he turns the reins lose and lets him do his thing and we’ll see. We have a lot of talent. We have to get these guys signed and then go out and do it and hopefully they can.”

White is no stranger to Tyler. One of his best friends on the Dallas Cowboys was Charlie Waters, whose wife, Rosie, is from Tyler. He got to know the area and still comes here to fish.

“I’m a fisherman, I’ve been through Tyler a lot of times going to lakes,” White said. “Charlie Waters, as another connection I’ve had here. I love East Texas. These are great people, I fit in good here!”

After speaking to the local media, White looked up and saw a line of fans waiting for his autograph at the opening of the new Dick’s Sporting Goods in Tyler and wanted to say one last thing.

“I’m glad to be here in Tyler, Texas, a bunch of great fans over the years, supported the Cowboys when I played and support the Cowboys now,” the Pittsburgh native and Maryland graduate said. “When I came to Texas in 1975, it was a dream come true every, single day. And people like this made it possible. There is nothing like it.”

(John Anderson is the editor of the Tyler Morning Telegraph and an NFL columnist. He can be reached at janderson@tylerpaper.com)