Cody White Scores Twice For Raiders, Dad Runs Steelers Personnel

The Raiders needed a spark against the Chargers on Sunday night, and it came from a guy who wasn't even on the active roster a few days ago. Cody White, elevated off the practice squad, turned seven total routes into two touchdown catches from Kirk Cousins, and Las Vegas rode it to a win that pushed them toward 2-0.

Kris Rhim @krisrhim1 · Raiders score. Wide receiver Cody White -- elevated from the practice squad today -- has two touchdowns. Chargers losing 24 - 14. 2:59 left, staring at 0-2

White's day was as efficient as it gets: 2 targets, 2 catches, 2 touchdowns, 24 yards. According to NBC Sports, the first was a contested grab in the end zone in the third quarter; the second came when the Chargers left him uncovered in the red zone off play-action, the easiest score of his career. It was just the fourth time in his 5-year NFL career he's caught multiple passes in a game, and the first time he'd found the end zone twice.

NFL Researcher @NFL_Researcher · Raiders WR Cody White has as many receiving TD (2) today as any Chargers WR has receptions.

That stat is a real indictment of how dead the Chargers' passing game looked -- a guy who was a practice-squad body on Friday outproduced their entire receiving corps by himself. White has bounced around the league since going undrafted out of Michigan State in 2020, with stops in Denver, Pittsburgh and Seattle before Las Vegas signed him to the practice squad on August 31. He'd made his mark in Week 1 with a chase-down special teams tackle against Miami; this was the first time the offense got in on it.

The wrinkle that made the moment travel is his last name. White's father, Sheldon White, is the Steelers' senior personnel executive -- a role he stepped into in 2026 after three years as Pittsburgh's director of pro scouting. Sheldon played 6 seasons in the NFL himself and spent nearly two decades in the Lions' front office before Pittsburgh brought him on. Cody, notably, spent parts of his own career on the Steelers' practice squad, meaning his father's team once employed him too.

Mark Kaboly @MarkKaboly · Raiders WR Cody White caught two TDs today. He was not only on the Steelers' practice squad for a while, but his father is also Steelers'lers Senior Personnel Executive

None of that history changes the Raiders' calculus this week. White ran only 7 routes and remains a depth piece and special-teamer more than an every-week option, but a 2-touchdown day off the practice squad buys goodwill fast in an NFL locker room. Whether he sticks on the active roster past this week or gets flexed back down, Sunday was the kind of moment that gets brought up for the rest of his career -- and the fact that his own front-office dad watched it happen from the Steelers' side only sharpens it.