Falcons great Roddy White enjoying post-football life as entrepreneur

FLOWERY BRANCH — Roddy White marvels at the job two of his former teammates, Matt Ryan and Todd McClure, are doing in leadership positions with the Falcons.

Ryan is the team’s president of football. McClure is the coordinator of player development and a senior personnel assistant. White has ventured to Flowery Branch numerous times in recent offseasons, and he’s not certain he doesn’t want to add his own title inside Falcons headquarters.

“I’m not going to say no, but I’m not going to say yeah either,” White told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “My guys up there, man, they’re doing a really good job right now. And if they need my help and assistance, then I’ll find some sort of way to kind of get up there and help those guys out in any form or fashion.

“Being a Falcons fan and playing for the organization for 11 years, I’m tied there forever, and I want to see them win. So, whatever I can do to help that, then I’ll go out there and help Matt, do whatever he asks me to do.”

For now, White carries a few other titles. He’s one of the greatest receivers in Falcons history, leading the franchise in games (171) and touchdown catches (63) among wideouts and ranking second behind Julio Jones in catches (808) and yards (10,863).

White’s name and No. 84 are plastered on a red facade near midfield in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, stacked alongside other members of the Falcons’ Ring of Honor.

That side of White is forever immortalized. The other — his journey as an entrepreneur — is still evolving.

White owns a construction company that handles commercial real estate and single- and multifamily homes. He started the endeavor before his playing career ended, building homes near his own.

His company’s first renovation was his basement. Then, projects spread across his neighborhood and eventually expanded into building from the ground up on a couple of acres of land. Now, White and his associates build small community homes and affordable housing, staying in the $400,000 to $500,000 range.

White knew he wanted to do something outside of football after retiring in the spring of 2017. He went through the process of getting permitted, sitting down with architects, picking out designs for houses and learning the necessary steps about housing foundations, electrical, plumbing, roofing, framing and everything else required to build a home.

“I fell in love with it,” White said. “And it’s something I like to do.”

White spent six hours Wednesday at the Chase for Business “Make Your Move Summit” in Atlanta, joining what he estimates at over 1,000 small-business owners to learn, bounce ideas and connect with one another. But he has no shortage of mentors or contacts in the business industry.

White’s uncle spent 45 years in construction. He grew up around the industry, and when he went home for summers in college, he’d lend a hand with cabinetry work and other activities. It was then, in the early 2000s, when he had his first introduction to everything from building objects and learning measurements to formulating bathrooms.

Still, a learning curve awaited White when he dove into the business full-time after his playing days ended. His football career gave him a baseline of ethics, and he built the foundation for his post-football life on the same values that led him to four Pro Bowl appearances in 11 seasons as a pro.

“When you first get into it, you don’t know much,” White said. “I just took my structure and my discipline from what I did in football and then applied it to my business. Everything that I learned from showing up on time, to being organized, to putting everything together and going step by step.

“And creating a format, just like a playbook, to where I take what I learned in football and apply it directly to what I wanted to do in business and it worked out successfully for me. So that’s been a big part of just that foundation, instruction, discipline that you use.”

There’s something else White learned from football that’s carried over, too.

Ryan deals with it. So does McClure. And in the event White wants to leave his construction company for a perch in the Falcons’ front office, he’ll take the role with an understanding that people are at the root of the finished product.