San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Keion White has said he plans to "OD on melatonin" in an effort to help combat the jet lag of traveling down under to Melbourne
Keion White #56 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates after a sack against the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter preseason game at Allegiant Stadium on August 27, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Keion White has joked he wants to overdose on melatonin
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Image: Getty Images)
San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Keion White has turned heads by jokingly claiming he will try to "OD on melatonin" in an effort to help him battle through the team's trip down under to Melbourne.
While the other 30 NFL teams kick off their 2026 season in the U.S., the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are facing off in Australia, with the latter buoyed by the return of future Hall of Fame pass rusher Aaron Donald, who recently came out of retirement. However, the trip down under is arduous.
The 49ers touched down in Melbourne on Thursday after a nearly 8,000-mile, 16-hour journey, while Los Angeles will travel next week ahead of the game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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However, prior to taking off, White revealed that he would be taking melatonin to help him sleep on the plane, joking that he would try to overdose on the substance.
"I'm about to take, like, I don't know if you can OD on melatonin, but I'm gonna try," White joked to reporters about his travel plans. "Take like five melatonin, go to sleep on the plane. As soon as I wake up, I'm taking five more. And just keep rolling like that."
Following that answer, however, the 49ers star offered up a more serious answer, explaining to reporters he knows all about trying to combat jet lag, and that the team had been given a "30-minute seminar" from 49ers VP of Player Health & Performance, Dustin Perry.
"DP [Dustin Perry] gave a whole 30-minute seminar today about what to do, so, about how you can sleep on the plane," said White.
"Either stagger it or try to stay up for a little bit, then go to sleep. Once we get there, it'll be in the morning, so try to stay up throughout the day.
"Like I said, I, I like to travel, so I'm familiar. Like that first day is super crucial to really stay up that whole day and force and push through, and so just trying to do that.
He added, "I'm an experience guy. If I'm up, walking around, just going to go do stuff, like I'll be up. Like just go explore. Like we'll have meetings and everything like that, but once I do that, I'm out exploring, Melbourne and, and getting around town."
Keion White #99 played for the New England Patriots in Frankfurt back in 2023
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Image:
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The clash against the Rams in Melbourne will be White's third international game, following appearances in Germany and London.
"I'm excited. So this is my third, international game," said White of playing down under.
"I've done Germany and I've done London. It's always cool to go out to another country, go experience those fans.
"Sometimes they don't really know about football too much, so they're just cheering for everybody, but like it's still cool to just interact with another culture. I love to travel, and so you just take advantage of the opportunity."