Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Dirk Koetter: Roddy White is the most competitive player I've ever met

Published Jan. 4, 2016 12:39 a.m. ET

foxsports

While Dirk Koetter used to be the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, he's since moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That doesn't mean though, that he doesn't still have strong opinions about some of his former players. One specifically who apparently comes to mind is wide receiver Roddy White.

When speaking about White, Koetter raved about the type of competitor that the veteran receiver is.

Via Vaughn McClure of ESPN:

"I tell friends of mine all the time that Roddy White is the single-most competitive football player I've ever met in my life," Koetter said. "I've just never been around a guy that his desire to win and compete would let him overcome injuries. He would do whatever it takes -- whether it be blocking, catching, running with the football -- just whatever you needed to help you win a game, Roddy would try to do it."

"Every week, Smitty [coach Mike Smith] would have the offensive coaches pick a game-ball winner, and I swear to God I think Roddy got the vote 11 out of 13 times," Koetter said. "He didn't always get the game ball because we wanted to spread it around. But up in the coaches' room upstairs, we were saying, 'OK, who else are we going to give this game ball to besides Roddy?'"

White's been the go-to option for years in Atlanta's offense, but since the emergence of Julio Jones, he's begun to take a backseat. While it's understandable that the 34-year-old receiver would slow down a bit at this point, he showed as the season went on that he was still more than capable of stepping up big when his number was called.