DeAnthony White came back.

Maybe if the bond he had built with his Eastern Michigan football teammates wasn't so strong or if his desire to finish his degree didn't drive him, things may have been different.

But the senior wide receiver is back with a team he left a year ago. White is one of 14 Eastern Michigan seniors who will play their final home game Saturday against Western Michigan (1 p.m., WEMU 89.1-FM).

"In the end, it's a career you cannot forget," White said Tuesday. "It's one of those experiences that in a lifetime you want to experience.

"It's bittersweet because of some of the things that happened, but in the end, you don't want it to end."

DeAnthony White came to Eastern Michigan full of promise, hoping to find a productive place in a big-play offense. Over time, the big plays became fewer and farther apart and everything was overshadowed by three years of losing.

By the mid-point of his junior season, White was frustrated. That led to a misunderstanding with former Eagles coach Jeff Genyk. The end result: White quit.

He considered transferring. He also considered his teammates, who supported him in his decision to step away from what had become a difficult situation.

Deep down, White felt as if he was letting his team down.

Within a few weeks, White met with Genyk. Genyk, who was fired at the end of the season, allowed White to return.

"I came back because we were better than that as friends who stick together through anything," White said.

Now, in his final season, the brotherhood DeAnthony White has established with his classmates and teammates is again being put to the test. The Eagles are 0-9 and have lost five straight games in the Mid-American Conference.

Through adversity, though, first-year coach Ron English's team has stuck together. English will appeal to his players to win for the seniors.

In the past four years, Eastern Michigan's seniors have compiled an 8-36 record.

"This has been hard for everybody," Ron English said. "I appreciate (the seniors) keeping it all together. I hope (players) play has hard as they can, but I hope they know they have to execute for us to win.

"I think they're going to be motivated."

For White, the motivation is about more than winning in his final game at Rynearson Stadium. White - who has one catch this season after recording 63 receptions and four touchdowns in his first three seasons - is more concerned about considering his four years in Ypsilanti as a whole, not simply as a football player.

"The experience and the bond you have with teammates is a strong bond that can't be conquered by nothing really," he said. "Everything you learn together is something that can't be broken.

"Everything (the seniors) have been through over the past years, that's what makes us strong as a team. Our record may not show it to people on the outside, but we're as strong of a team as it gets."

Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554.