The call finally came at 3 a.m. on Saturday. On the other end of the line was Johnny White’s mother, Beverly, assuring the junior safety for the University of Wisconsin football team that she and Johnny Sr. had survived a grueling evacuation from their home near Houston, which was being threatened by Hurricane Rita.
For 20 long hours, White had been unable to speak to his parents, whose plans to come to Madison for the Michigan game were thrown for a loop when all of the Friday afternoon flights in the area were canceled.