After the COVID-19 break in 2021, Old Dominion’s Keion White had two choices: he could either enter a job in business real estate that he majored in, or transfer to another school in hopes of someday playing in the NFL. You see, not even six months before the 2023 NFL Draft where the New England Patriots made him the 46th overall pick, did he believe he could do it.

So, even when traveling to road games, he would be engrossed in books. He knew his reality wouldn’t get him into the NFL. But life had different plans for him. And so, he learned that while he can be mature, he doesn’t have to take everything seriously. Earlier this year, even a bullet couldn’t change his mind. Now that he is back on the field as the San Francisco 49ers‘ defensive end, he has some more jokes to share.

“No, they’re still in there, so two small screws, like, in my ankle,” Keion White said. “So I got screws in each ankle now, so I’m symmetrical.”

That joke isn’t going away any time soon. Nor is White’s humor. In fact, he was cracking jokes on the way to the hospital when he required emergency surgery after the non-fatal shooting in February.

Keion White had taken a bullet but was still prepared to joke around

On February 9, White was cheering for his former team, the Patriots, who were in the Big Game against the eventual winners, the Seattle Seahawks. After the game, his entourage had moved to a local nightclub named Dahlia’s on Mission Street, where he was having an afterparty in a private area. Just then, rapper Lil Baby and his associates were trying to get into that party when things took a wrong turn.

After what many witnesses described as a verbal altercation, they heard two gunshots at 4 a.m. By the time SFPD’s Strategic Investigation Unit reached the location, White was already down with a gunshot to his ankle. The police did not identify the perpetrator who prompted the fight or the shooting. According to them, White was not being cooperative in giving names either. He was then taken to a hospital, and that’s where he didn’t mind cracking some jokes:

“I got shot,” he said on Tuesday. “It was a gunshot to the foot. I broke my talus bone, so I had to have surgery, two screws in there. But yeah, brush it off. Literally was making jokes as I was going to the hospital, so I don’t really be too serious.

“Nah, the funny part is I was actually the one calming everybody else down. I don’t really take a lot of things seriously. I didn’t know I got shot until like five minutes after, as I was walking around.”

Seven months later, the DE is feeling alright despite having a pair of screws holding his broken talus together. Still, White was honest that the recovery hasn’t been a straight line.

“To be honest, it’s still an ongoing thing,” he admitted. “Still dealing with my ankle and everything like that, recovering. Just having to take myself a day at a time, but I feel pretty good right now. It was like a touch-and-go situation right up to the beginning of training camp, for real.”

Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the first time that White has required surgery on his ankle.

White broke his ankle years ago but did not realize it until it was too late

After the COVID-19 break in 2021, as he waited to graduate and ultimately move to Georgia Tech, he had enough time on his hands to play hoops pickup game. One day, he slipped and fell on a T-shirt recklessly thrown under a hoop and hit the wall.

He realized his ankle looked “completely sideways.”

He popped it right back, thinking he had dislocated it and should be fine with some rest. But weeks later, X-rays revealed that he had a broken ankle that required surgery. 

He missed the first eight games at Georgia Tech due to that surgery but remained close to his team to continue learning. In fact, despite not getting a completely clean bill of health, he played by the end of that season.

As the 49ers now prepare to fly roughly 8,000 miles for their regular season opener on September 10 against the LA Rams in Australia, the DE had more jokes.

Keion White has a funny plan to beat jet lag

A 15-hour flight right before going against one of the top teams in the NFL is no joke. White knows it all too well, and that’s why he has come up with a plan to feel A-okay in down-under.

 “I don’t know if you can OD on melatonin, but I’m gonna try,” he told the reporters on Tuesday. “Take like five melatonin, go to sleep on the plane, as soon as I wake up, I’m taking five more.”

The team is supposedly planning to leave the US on Wednesday, which means they will be in Australia by Friday. One week in advance should already help everyone adjust to the time lapse and beat jet lag to tackle the Rams, the strongest contenders to win the Super Bowl this year.

White has already logged snaps during the preseason, and while everyone expected a big year from him in 2025, this season could be it for the standout performer.