Even after the ball bounced off his hands, even when the day was lost.

"You expected he'd make that catch," fellow wide receiver Brian Finneran said of the dropped pass in the final seconds of a 24-20 loss to Denver. "Two years ago, you expected nothing."

The Falcons play Carolina today in a game that could clarify the Falcons' playoffs aspirations, and given the Panthers' attentive pass defense --- their eight passing touchdowns allowed are fewest in the NFC (along with Minnesota) --- White again has a stage.

When he has a touchdown catch this season, the Falcons are 4-1; the ball he couldn't handle with 66 seconds left last Sunday could have pushed that ratio along. He took the loss hard --- "I feel responsible for this one," he said at his locker --- but that White spoke of his obligation makes the fan wonder who was out there in 2005 and 2006 wearing No. 84.

White opens the day as the NFL's third-leading receiver (903 yards) and might break the franchise season record (1,358; Alfred Jenkins in 1981). He is playing himself into the Pro Bowl. And if it seems like he is also playing for lost time, he won't deny that either.

"When I first got out there, I didn't do anything right," White said last week. "I just played around and [was] always waiting for the next year. It was always the next year. I'll be good the next year and the next year.

"You know, it started to wind down. I was like, 'I got to get on the ball. I'm behind right now.' "

The boo birds

Nobody really understands what it means to be a first-round draft pick unless they've been one. Even after the Falcons did White that honor with the 27th pick in 2005, he didn't seem to comprehend.

His practice habits were poor, his post-practice habits worse. His nights on the town typically ended at McDonald's, and his weight crept up some 15 pounds to around 220. Coach Jim Mora tried to make him a starter in 2006, but he lost that job after five games.

If there was a nadir, it came Nov. 26, 2006, when the Falcons, at 5-5, were trailing New Orleans by eight points in the fourth quarter at home. Michael Vick put a long pass into White's hands on the 5-yard line and, all alone, White dropped it.

On the sideline, Mora fell to his knees. The Falcons lost 31-13 and the season spiraled. Owner Arthur Blank went on television to rip his receivers. Even White's mother called to tell her son to make a play for a change.

But foremost, White heard booing like he had never heard before.

"It was difficult for me because I'd never been booed like that in my life," he said. "Sometimes it takes that to turn a page and get on the right page and start maturing. It helped me more than it hurt me. I learned this game is about production."

Props to Petrino

In 2007, White began to pay more attention to fitness, and the first step was eliminating the McDonald's food group. His nightlife habits changed with an enormous personal decision to take his brother Tyrone White (age 15) and cousin Ali White (17) into his home, after their lives back in Charleston, S.C., had begun to wander.

On the field, veteran Joe Horn had joined the team, and White followed Horn's ethic, even in running drills around traffic cones. He learned technique was not an NFL option.

But the stunner came when coach Bobby Petrino, in the first weeks, summoned him to his office. He expected the worst.

"He saying, 'Roddy, you're going to be the guy.' And I was like, 'Really?' " White recalled. "And he said, 'Yeah, we watched the films. You can make plays and you can be that kind of guy that can lead this team, and we expect that from you.'

"And I was like, 'OK? Take a chance.' ... That's one of the few things he did kind of good around here. He got me jump-started and got me going on my way."

What followed was the breakout season (1,202 yards, six touchdowns) that surpassed his first two years combined.

Matty Ice to Roddy Nice

The final piece in White's transformation came with the arrival of another first-round pick, but one who got it right away: Matt Ryan. Any new quarterback looks for who can help him, and in White, Ryan saw a possession receiver and a deep threat in the same body.

"He's the kind of receiver you want," Ryan said. "He wants the ball. He wants to make the plays and get the ball in his hands at crucial times."

Offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey arrived last spring to find a big man with sneaky speed but, more important, one who would work a block downfield.

"That position demands blocking," Mularkey said. "That was the same [spot] Hines [Ward] had in Pittsburgh. It's as important as what he does catching the ball down the field, his ability to help in the run game. And his size allows him to do that."

While White is on his way to becoming the first Falcon since Terance Mathis with consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons (1998-99), he has also become Ryan's third-down destination. Twenty of his 58 receptions --- almost 35 percent --- have come on third down, second-most in the NFL.

It all spells dependability, just like the image, so laughable only two years ago, of Roddy White rising at 7 a.m. every morning to make pancakes for his brother and cousin before sending them off to school.

"No pancakes," he said. "McDonald's."

Wait. A relapse?

"Nah, I got out of that," White said. "They ain't yet."

Falcons VS. Panthers

4:15 P.M. TODAY * FOX * 92.9 FM