"If talk's cheap in the regular world, it holds even less currency in professional sports. Every camp produces stories of underachieving guys who are newly motivated to make the most of second (or last) chances.

It's always best to wait and see how these things play out on the field before buying too much into self-proclamations of career rebirths.

So, when running back LenDale White voices his excitement at getting a shot with the Seattle Seahawks after being picked up on the cheap from Tennessee, you might take it with a grain of salt … and perhaps a lime wedge.

But seeing White on the hoof is pretty convincing evidence that he's highly motivated to get his career rebooted.

At the recent Seahawks minicamp, the former USC star was so lean as to be unrecognizable to anybody who saw him carrying around more than 250 pounds and being replaced as the Titans' main back by the sensational Chris Johnson.

Even when he had been productive, his level of conditioning and commitment had been steady topics of discussion in Tennessee, where he once attributed some weight loss to the fact that he had stopped drinking tequila. And then Johnson's emergence rendered him obsolete.

During the recent NFL draft, Carroll swapped some low picks with the Titans and was reunited with White, who had been USC's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns.

Remember, this is early, but in some team drills over the weekend, White showed a time or two that he could hit the hole with surprising quickness and blow past the second level of defense before anybody could even touch him. And this is from a "power" back who would tend to look even better in full-contact, padded drills."