AT HOME IN EL PASO UCLA'S WHITE RETURNS, VISITS WITH FOSTER FAMILY.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

EL PASO, Texas - ``Why?'' It's always the first question anyone asks Barb Routledge and one she's often asked herself.

Why would a single mother, struggling to rear three children of her own on a nurse's salary, take on another teen-ager in an already-crowded house?

Eight years later, Routledge still isn't sure why. She's only glad she did.

So, too, is the boy she took in.

Tony White, now 6-foot-1, 245 pounds and grown up in the truest sense of the word, has returned to El Paso this week to conclude his UCLA career against Wisconsin in the Sun Bowl on Friday. He comes having fulfilled his dreams.

White, an unheralded recruit, has started the past three years at linebacker and is three quarters shy of earning his bachelor's degree in history.

It's everything he asked for when he and his best friend, Troy, walked into Barb Routledge's bedroom nearly a decade ago and sheepishly asked if Tony could move in with the family.

White's father, Anthony, was moving to San Antonio and wasn't interested in bringing his son with him. The other alternative was moving back to the Bronx, N.Y., with his mother, Chae Yun, and his little brother, Marquis.

``My first reaction, of course, was no,'' Routledge said. ``Several months later, they begged: `Please, please, please. Can he stay?' I said to Tony, 'I don't think your mom is going to go for this.' She didn't know me at all.''

White chuckles when he's asked why he wanted to stay in El Paso.

The city sits in the harsh West Texas high desert, where, if the baking sun doesn't sap your strength, the howling wind will. It's a long day's drive from San Antonio and, culturally, French fries qualify as haute cuisine.

Yet, to the Florida-born, New York-bred and now Angelino-adoring White, it was the perfect place for him to grow up: a place where football is king.

``I also felt El Paso was my kind of character,'' White said. ``It's slow paced, but everybody's upbeat. New York is so negative. There's an aggressive attitude - you've always got to be on your toes. It doesn't make you a bad person, but it makes you do bad things. I didn't get in any trouble, but I was just hanging out. It was a bad atmosphere.

``Even when I was that young, I knew I wanted to get a scholarship to play college football. I felt like I had a better chance if I stayed in El Paso.''

White had come to El Paso - along with Marquis, who is two years younger and now plays basketball at Santa Monica City College - at the end of sixth grade. Their mother had sent them to live with their father, whom she had met when he was a serviceman in Korea.

Chae Yun had hoped her sons would form a tighter bond with their father. But instead, the relationship with Anthony became strained. After a year, Marquis moved back to New York.

``Growing up, he was real cool,'' White said of his father. ``When we got older, he treated me and my brother like men and the responsibility sometimes was too much.''

When White first mentioned to his mother he wanted to stay in El Paso, her answer was also no. Finally, she relented on the condition White behaved and continued to do well in school.

Chae Yun mailed Routledge monthly checks to cover her son's living expenses and would buy him clothes when he visited New York for Christmas or during the summer. It was far from perfect, though.

``I'd say it took me a year and a half to be comfortable,'' White said. ``I'd always ask, 'Can I open the fridge? Can I have more to eat.' Barb would say, 'You're part of the family. You don't have to ask.' ''

Still, there were times when White would simply walk out in the backyard, sit by himself and cry.

``I can tell you Tony was homesick at times,'' said Routledge, who has an older son, Neil, and a younger daughter, Beth. ``He felt pretty comfortable, but it wasn't the same as having his own mom and dad right there.

``The kids understood that all four of them shared. I always tease everybody that Tony ate me out of house and home, but there was really no problem. We just ate a lot of hamburger.''

The hamburger tasted like prime rib the night White got off the phone with UCLA coach Bob Toledo.

White was asked by former UCLA assistant Rocky Long, who hadn't offered him a scholarship, to take a recruiting visit to UCLA just before signing day. But White said he couldn't because if he took the trip Oklahoma State would rescind its scholarship offer.

Toledo called back moments later and told White to forget about losing his scholarship: he had one at UCLA.

The ensuing four years have been filled with their share of ups and downs for White, well beyond the scope of football.

He was in a car accident as a freshman, struggled to adjust academically and was snared in the handicapped parking scandal. Furthermore, last fall his father - in and out of hospitals the past few years with diabetes and a series of strokes - died of a heart attack.

White's relationship with his father had deteriorated even further since he came to UCLA.

``We would argue about a lot of things,'' White said. ``We got into this really big fight on the phone. I didn't talk to him for two weeks after that. He called me back and said he was sorry, and we got a chance to reconcile.''

Two weeks later, Anthony died.

Two weeks earlier, White had comforted his position coach, Marc Dove, when Dove's father died. Now, it was Dove's turn to console White.

``I think we leaned on each other,'' Dove said. ``He was very supportive to me and hopefully I was to him. He just took the time to be sensitive. Tony's very attentive to those things. He's very generous with his time to talk and listen. You don't find that very often in this day and age.''

When UCLA switched from a four-linebacker to three-linebacker scheme two years ago, it meant shifting White from his natural position inside to the outside. He never uttered a negative word.

White frequently takes his backup, freshman Brandon Chillar, in for supplemental film study. Ryan Nece, who starts at the other outside linebacker spot, says his mother would probably run out on the field and give White a hug before her own son.

White is probably the only UCLA athlete who routinely addresses reporters as sir and ma'am.

``He's very much a gentleman,'' Dove said. ``He takes great pride in the way he's received. Tony's had some events in his life that forced him to take responsibility at a young age. He's grown in a very positive way from it.

``The thing that's impressive is that he never lets anything be a liability to him. The glass is always half full.''

And, that, too, is the way Barb Routledge looks at the question now. As she enjoys the Christmas holidays with her family and would-be son and anticipates the Sun Bowl, the question is no longer ``why?'' It's ``why not?''

SUN BOWL

UCLA vs. Wisconsin

Friday

--TV: Ch. 2, 11 a.m.

TODAY'S BOWL GAMES

Motor City Bowl

Marshall vs. Cincinnati

Site: Pontiac, Mich.

TV: ESPN, 1 p.m.

Records: Marshall (7-5), Cincinnati (7-4)

Line: Cincinnati by 3 1/2

Series record: Cincinnati leads 5-2-1.

Career bowl records: Marshall 2-2; Cincinnati 3-1.

Common opponents this season: Marshall beat Miami, Ohio 51-31 on Nov. 11; Cincinnati beat Miami, Ohio 45-15 on Oct. 28.

Marshall scouting report: Fourth consecutive trip to Motor City Bowl for perennial MAC champions. Talented sophomore QB Byron Leftwich put up big numbers. His favorite target is smooth WR Nate Poole (70 catches). Solid secondary highlights veteran defense that might have trouble stopping UC running game.

Cincinnati scouting report: Surprising Bearcats won past four and finished tied for second in C-USA. Senior QB Deontey Kenner has big arm and lots of experience. RBs Ray Jackson, a Michigan transfer, and DeMarco McCleskey make up tough ground attack. Jonathon Ruffin won Groza Award as nation's top PK.

Galleryfurniture.com Bowl

Texas Tech vs. East Carolina

Site: Houston

TV: ESPN, 5 p.m.

Line: Texas Tech by 1.

Series record: First meeting.

Career bowl records: Texas Tech 5-18-1; East Carolina 6-4.

Common opponents this season: None

Texas Tech scouting report: Coach Mike Leach brought pass-happy spread attack over from Oklahoma. QB Kliff Kingsbury (21 TD passes) put up nice numbers, but offense is one-dimensional - ground game completely missing. Fine defense might be susceptible to run, and ECU's balanced offense includes two capable RBs.

East Carolina Scouting Report: Pirates are paced by impressive QB David Garrard, a good-looking pro prospect. Slippery WR/KR Keith Stokes is the big-play guy. LB Pernell Griffin, back from knee injury, leads small defense that is only average against the run. Still, that shouldn't hurt here.

- Associated Press

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo: (color) TONY WHITE

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box: (1) Motor City Bowl (see text)

(2) Galleryfurniture.com Bowl (see text)