White played lettered in football and track for the South High School Spartans of Torrance, California. He was an all-conference, all-state and all-CIF selection. He recorded 1,850 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns in nine games as a senior in 2008.
College career
White played for the Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks of Los Angeles Harbor College from 2009 to 2010. He set school career records with 2,527 rushing yards, 34 rushing touchdowns, 41 total touchdowns, 248 points, 3,767 all-purpose yards and single-season records with 18 rushing touchdowns, 25 total touchdowns, 152 points and 2,056 all-purpose yards. He was also named Central West Conference Offensive Player of the Year. White played for the Utah Utes of the University of Utah from 2011 to 2012. He finished his career as the first running back in Utah history to gain 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, one of two Utes all-time with two 1,000-yard seasons and the school's single-season rushing record holder with 1,519 yards in 2011. White was the MVP of the 2011 Sun Bowl. He set his school's record for career rushing yards per game with 106.7 and career 100-yard games with 14. He ranked sixth in school history with 2,560 career rushing yards, fourth all-time in 534 career rushes and tied for fourth with 23 career rushing touchdowns.
White signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League on May 8, 2013. In his first season in the league White carried the ball 69 times for 260 yards, only averaging 3.8 yards per carry, with a lone rushing touchdown. He became a bigger part of the Eskimos rushing attack in 2014. White was named CFL Offensive Player of the Week for Week 14 of the 2014 CFL season after recording 199 combined yards, including 192 rushing yards on 17 carries, a 36-yard touchdown run and a 10-yard touchdown catch in Edmonton's 24–0 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on September 26, 2014. He finished the season with 123 carries for 852 yards with 2 rushing touchdowns. White finished the season 3rd in the league in rushing yards, trailing only Jon Cornish and Anthony Allen. He also contributed 182 receiving yards on 17 catches, with 1 receiving touchdown. White was named Offensive Player of the Week for the Division Finals, in which the Eskimos were defeated by the Stampeders en route to the 102nd Grey Cup Championship. Following the season White was awarded for this outstanding season by being named both a CFL West All-Star and a CFL All-Star. White was injured during practice on June 7, 2015. On June 8, the Edmonton Eskimos announced he would miss the 2015 CFL season due to a ruptured left Achilles tendon. Edmonton ended up winning the Grey Cup that year. As the Eskimos starting running back John White played the majority of the 2016 regular season, missing only a few games with minor injuries. During the season, he carried the ball 164 times for 886 yards, and also caught 58 passes for 464 yards. scoring a total of 9 touchdowns. In the first round of the playoffs White set a franchise rushing record racking up 160 yards on the ground, surpassing the previous record of 152 set by Normie Kwong in 1958. White left the second game of the 2017 season with a leg injury. Following the game it was announced that he had torn his ACL, and would miss the remainder of the season: His second major leg injury in three years.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
On the first day of training camp in 2018, White was released from Edmonton, with General ManagerBrock Sunderland refusing to comment. White was added to the practice roster for the Hamilton Tiiger-Cats following the conclusion of the preseason and spent the first 3 weeks there to learn the Hamilton playbook, while starter Alex Green was injured; reserve national backs Mercer Timmis and Sean Thomas Erlington filled in, with help from Nikita Whitlock who was temporarily converted from defensive lineman to carry the ball. White made his debut in week 4 against Saskatchewan, rushing twice for 9 yards. White would see more usage the next two games, before Green's return caused White to go back to the practice roster. White was called up again towards the end of the season, and produced a 19 carry 63 yard outing with one touchdown, as well as a 15 carry 108 yard effort in back to back games against the BC Lions. White was inactive for the post season, but in his 7 regular season games produced a respectable 78 carries for 400 yards and two scores, as well as catching 8 passes for 51 yards.
BC Lions
On the first day of free agency in 2019, White was signed by his former Edmonton GM Ed Hervey to play for the BC Lions. This reunited Whte with quarterback Mike Reilly, who had signed from Edmonton earlier in the day. During 2019, White received consistent criticism for his pass blocking errors, but was a dynamo as a rusher, putting up the first 1,000 yard season of his career alongside 7 touchdowns. White missed two games with injury, but was otherwise durable by playing in 16 games, a career high. He also had the most carries in one season of his career, and produced a trio of games where he surpassed the 100 yard mark.
