Eagles' Mitchell White trying to become another CFL-to-NFL success story

The day Mitchell White noticed a major difference between the Canadian Football League and the NFL was, of course, the first one. Coming off three seasons playing cornerback up north, the Eagles' rookie lined up to play defense in practice, followed his receiver downfield, turned and looked. The ball was already there.

The game is faster here.

"In Canada, it's like, 'I got time, I'll go run back to them and then I'll go look,' " White said. "You've got to go speed that process up, so that whole procedure in terms of, OK, the guy is running a go route or a nine route, you've got trust your ability and say, 'All right, I'm just going to go look for the ball.' Because if you don't, they got a playmaker on the sideline."

And for White, even the sidelines are closer. In the CFL, the field is 35 feet wider than in the NFL, so very little about White's new league matches what the 27-year-old is used to.

"It's a learning process, to be honest," he said. "Just getting readjusted to everything."

At Michigan State, White started as a walk-on, redshirted as a freshman and earned a scholarship as a junior in 2010. He ended up playing in 43 games, mostly on special teams.

When he began in the CFL, his goal was to play two years there. He did that for the Montreal Alouettes, and then worked out for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals after the 2015 season. He couldn't land a job with either.

Last season, he had three interceptions for the Ottawa Redblacks, who won the Grey Cup, the Super Bowl of the CFL. Suddenly, more NFL teams showed interest. One was the Eagles, who brought him to Philadelphia, showed him a depth chart, gave him a playbook and signed him to a reserves/futures contract just after the New Year.

Last season, the Eagles added Aaron Grymes, another cornerback who like White played three years in the CFL, became one of that league's better defensive players and won a  Grey Cup in his final season. The CFL humbles players who try to make the jump to the NFL, and Grymes knows that better than most. He appeared to have a good shot of making the Eagles' Week 1 roster last fall, but he injured his shoulder and was waived.

Later in the season, when Grymes healed and a roster spot opened up, the cornerback re-signed with the Eagles and made his NFL debut in November in a win over the Atlanta Falcons. Three years in the CFL prepared him for the setbacks ahead.

"Being up there for three years, it gets you right — not just physically, but mentally," Grymes said. "It helps you be a pro."

White has kept an eye on Grymes and other players who have made a living in the NFL after surviving the CFL. Quarterbacks Warren Moon, Joe Theismann and Doug Flutie have all become historical examples. Defensive end Cameron Wake, from Penn State, is a more recent one.

For those who know how tough the journey is, White said there becomes a brotherhood.

"I think I speak for all the CFL guys that have come down to the NFL from the CFL," said White, "I think we all root for each other in a sense, because it's like … It's a grind up there."