The last pass rush

They called Reggie White "the Minister of Defense" because he was both a Pentecostal minister and the best defensive lineman in the NFL during his heyday with the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers.

Reggie was always quick with a quote, even if it wasn't always clear whether he knew what he was saying before he said it, like the free agent summer he spent trumpeting his desire to join a team in a community where he could make a positive impact on African American youth, only to sign for serious Benjamins to play in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the black population of which could probably fit comfortably in a Cadillac Escalade.

By all accounts, though, he was a genuinely nice man who did, in fact, do quite a bit for the people around him. Now he's gone.

Some things you can't defend against.

Reggie White's small significance in my life was easy to identify — he and I were born on the same day. We celebrated our common 43rd birthday a week ago today. If you suppose that my own mortality seems all too crystalline just now...you're correct.