33 days until kickoff, Wilford White was the patriarch of the First Family of Arizona State Football

Yesterday's edition of our countdown series focused on Jesus Gomez, the incoming placekicker who fans hope will solidify the position on special teams after a tumultuous 2024 season. Today, we travel back to the 1940's to honor arguably the first true star in Tempe, Wilford White.

Born and raised in Mesa, Wilford was a two sport athlete at Mesa High School, earning first-team All-State honors as a junior and senior, while also starring on the track and field team for the Jackrabbits. During his high school days, he earned the nicknames of "The Mesa Meteor" and "The Wizard of the Harmonica", the latter becoming the better known "Whizzer".

After accepting a scholarship to then-Arizona State College, Whizzer was a four year star for the newly named Sun Devils. He led the Devils in rushing in three of his four seasons with 539 yards in 1948, 935 yards in 1949, and an incredible 1,502 yards in 1950, which was also tops nationally. He made his contributions on the defensive side of the ball as well, recording three interceptions as a sophomore in 1948.

His 1950 season produced records that would stand for over 20 years, as his 1,502 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns were tops in the Sun Devil record books until Woody Green's 1972 season. His career 3,173 yards were also a program record until Green surpassed that total in 1973, and still ranks fifth all time in Arizona State history.

His 8 games of 100+ yards in 1950 and 16 career games of 100+ yards? You guessed it, also records at the time of his departure, since broken by Eno Benjamin (2018) and Woody Green respectively. His incredible 136 points scored in 1950 stood for 63 years until Zane Gonzalez edged him with 138 points in 2013.

To this day, White still holds records for all-purpose yards in a season (2,065 in 1950), career all-purpose yards (5,654), total touchdowns in a season (22 in 1950), and career total touchdowns (48, tied by Woody Green), as well as numerous per game average records.

It's only fitting that after becoming just the second player to surpass the 1,500 rushing yard plateau in a single season (Fred Wendt in 1948 for UTEP), Whizzer was named the first All-American in Sun Devil history, and was selected to play in the 1951 College All-Star Game and the East-West Shrine Game.

White was selected in the 3rd round (36th overall) of the 1951 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears, playing two seasons in the NFL before a knee injury derailed his pro career. He would attempt a comeback in 1955 with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, recording 11 catches for 213 yards and three touchdowns before hanging up the pads for good.

After his playing days were over, White was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 1968, and later a charter inductee to the Sun Devil Hall of Fame in 1975, as well as a charter member of the Ring of Honor in 2010. His number 33 would also be retired, one of only five Sun Devil football players to be so honored.

White's legacy continued to live on when his son Danny would attend Arizona State in the 1970's, later going on to enjoy a long and successful career in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. His grandson Max Hall originally committed to Arizona State, though would transfer to BYU and become a star for the Cougars following his mission trip in 2006.

In 2013 at the age of 84, White passed away, but his stardom while wearing the maroon and gold will echo from the buttes for many years to come.