Cody White caught two passes today. Both were touchdowns. Somewhere, his father was probably watching. And his father has spent nearly 30 years deciding who is good enough to play in the NFL. Sheldon White was a cornerback. Third round pick in 1988. He played for the Giants, the Lions and the Bengals and picked off 11 passes in six seasons. Then he was out of football entirely for seven years. In 1997 he got back in the only way available. The Detroit Lions hired him as a scout. He spent the next 19 years climbing inside that building. Director of pro personnel. Vice president of pro personnel. And in 2015, interim general manager of the Detroit Lions. Then they let him go. His son grew up in the middle of all of it, in Novi, Michigan, around a franchise whose best player was Calvin Johnson. Cody watched Megatron work, up close, as a kid. That is where he says the work ethic came from. He became Michigan's Mr. Football, the best high school player in the state. At Michigan State he set the school freshman receiving record and led the Spartans in receiving twice. And after the Lions let Sheldon go, Michigan State hired him too, to run player personnel. Father and son, same program. Then 2020 came, and the profession Sheldon had given his life to looked at his son and passed. Cody went undrafted. Chiefs. Giants practice squad. Broncos practice squad. Pittsburgh. And then Pittsburgh hired Sheldon as their director of pro scouting, with his son already on the practice squad. They kept it completely separate. No favors. No hovering. "We make sure we keep it separate. I'm not a helicopter parent at all." They got dinner on Thursdays or Fridays and talked about the week. Most of the Steelers had no idea they were related. "Guys came up to me in Week 16 and were like, man, I didn't even know that was your dad." But when it got hard, Sheldon had one thing he kept telling him. "Hey, you were Mr. Football. You can play, too." And here is the part that gets me. Sheldon keeps a video on his phone of one of Cody's catches from training camp. Not a game. Practice. And when Sheldon needs encouragement, he watches it. A man who has scouted thousands of NFL players, who got let go after 19 years with one franchise, goes back to a practice clip of his kid when he needs a lift. Cody went to Seattle. He caught his first NFL touchdown in 2025, from Sam Darnold, and was part of the team that won Super Bowl LX. In August he lost the last receiver spot to Montorie Foster Jr., who earned it, and he was out of work again. He signed in Las Vegas. Today, third quarter, Raiders trailing, Kirk Cousins hit him from 13 yards for the lead. Fourth quarter, under three minutes left, Cousins hit him again from 11 to put it away. Two catches. Two touchdowns. Raiders 26, Chargers 14. He had one touchdown in his entire career before today. For the first time, father and son work for different teams. Sheldon has a new video now.