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Donte Whitner

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Donte Whitner
refer to caption
Whitner with the Cleveland Browns in 2014
No. 20, 31, 39
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1985-07-24) July 24, 1985 (age 39)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:208 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Glenville (Cleveland)
College:Ohio State (2003–2005)
NFL draft:2006 / round: 1 / pick: 8
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:922
Sacks:3.0
Forced fumbles:11
Fumble recoveries:6
Interceptions:11
Defensive touchdowns:2
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Donte Demetrius Whitner Sr.[1] (born July 24, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft. Whitner also played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and Washington Redskins.

Early life

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Whitner was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is the older brother of former Connecticut Huskies defensive end Lindsey Witten. He attended Glenville High School in Cleveland. After his senior high school football season he was invited to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game. He attended Ohio State, not finishing his degree, and then enrolled at San Jose State University several years into his NFL career.[2]

When Whitner was six years old he was hit by an oncoming car after chasing a loose football down the street. He had up to 30 fractures in his legs from the impact and was told that he might not be able to walk again. The oncoming car suffered significant body damage. He spent three months in a full body cast but recovered.[3]

College career

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Whitner played for the Ohio Buckeyes from 2003 to 2005 as both a defensive back and safety. His junior year proved his most rewarding as he earned all-conference honors and helped the Buckeyes defeat Notre Dame during the 2005 Fiesta Bowl. During the 2005 season, Whitner recorded 73 tackles and 2 interceptions.[4]

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
5 ft 10+1⁄8 in
(1.78 m) 		204 lb
(93 kg) 		30+5⁄8 in
(0.78 m) 		7+7⁄8 in
(0.20 m)		 4.45 s 1.56 s 2.61 s 40 in
(1.02 m)		 11 ft 0 in
(3.35 m)		 18 reps
All values from NFL Combine[5]

Buffalo Bills

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The Buffalo Bills selected Whitner in the first round (eighth overall) of the 2006 NFL draft. Whitner was the second safety drafted in 2006 and was selected one pick behind Texas safety Michael Huff.[6]

Whitner missed the beginning of training camp due to a contract holdout. On August 7, 2006, the Buffalo Bills signed Whitner to a five-year, $29 million contract that includes $13.51 million guaranteed.[7][8]

In his first career game, he recorded his first interception against Tom Brady. The ruling on the field was a touchdown, but was later overruled when replay showed that Whitner had stepped out of bounds. He finished 2006 with 104 total tackles and one interception for 10 yards. In 2009, Whitner recorded his first career touchdown on a 76-yard interception return from Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Byron Leftwich in Week 2. His most productive game to date was in Week 12 of the 2010 season, where he recorded 18 total tackles against the Pittsburgh Steelers.[9]

San Francisco 49ers

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Whitner with the 49ers in 2013

On August 4, 2011, Whitner signed with the San Francisco 49ers. After previously announcing on Twitter that he would be going to the Cincinnati Bengals, he changed his mind and signed with San Francisco. He agreed to a three-year, $11.75 million deal with $4 million guaranteed. After his performance in his first year as a 49er, he was named to the USA Today All Joe Team.[10] During the 2011 playoffs, Whitner became famous for making vicious hits like against New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas as he was driving for a touchdown. The hit forced a fumble recovered by the 49ers and took Thomas out for the rest of the game.

At the end of the 2012 season, Whitner and the 49ers appeared in Super Bowl XLVII. In the game, he had eight combined tackles as the 49ers fell to the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 34–31.[11]

In 2013, in a game against the St. Louis Rams, Whitner was fined for a hit on receiver Chris Givens. In response to the fine, he indicated that he would be legally changing his last name from "Whitner" to "Hitner", dropping the "W" from his surname.[12] In an appearance on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access" on November 27, 2013, Whitner indicated that his request was to be processed on November 19, but had to be withdrawn when he was unable to honor the judge's requirement that he appear in court. During the same interview, Whitner indicated that he would pursue his name change during the offseason.[13]

Cleveland Browns

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Whitner signed a four-year deal worth $28 million with the Cleveland Browns on March 11, 2014.[14] On April 2, 2016, Whitner was released by the team.[15] With his release, the Cleveland Browns cleared $3.95 million of cap space.[16]

Washington Redskins

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On October 5, 2016, Whitner signed with the Washington Redskins.[17] After two games with the team, he became the starter at strong safety.[18] He was placed on injured reserve on December 28 due to a quad injury.[19]

NFL career statistics

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Year Team Games Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck FF FR Yds Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD
2006 BUF 15 14 104 67 37 0.0 0 0 0 1 10 10 10 0 5
2007 BUF 15 15 89 68 21 0.0 1 0 0 1 29 29 29 0 1
2008 BUF 13 13 61 50 11 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2009 BUF 10 8 57 42 15 0.0 0 0 0 2 104 52 76 1 5
2010 BUF 16 16 140 96 44 0.5 1 1 0 1 37 37 37 0 7
2011 SF 15 15 62 49 13 0.0 1 3 3 2 48 24 48 0 10
2012 SF 16 16 83 62 21 0.0 2 1 0 1 42 42 42 1 5
2013 SF 16 16 73 58 15 0.0 2 1 -5 2 7 4 7 0 12
2014 CLE 16 16 106 69 37 0.0 1 0 0 1 54 54 54 0 5
2015 CLE 14 14 81 58 23 1.5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
2016 WAS 11 9 66 49 17 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 157 152 922 668 254 3.0 12 6 0 11 331 30 76 2 55

References

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  1. ^ "Donte Whitner Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Lynch, Kevin (January 25, 2012). "Donte Whitner to Attend San Jose State". SFGate.com. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Steward, Carl (January 19, 2012). "49ers' Donte Whitner lucky to be alive". The Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2023 – via Boston Herald.
  4. ^ "Donte Whitner". Ohio State Buckeyes.com. October 11, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  5. ^ "*Donte Whitner, DS #2 SS, Ohio State". DraftScout.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  6. ^ "2006 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  7. ^ "Spotrac.com: Donte Whitner contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  8. ^ "BUFFALO BILLS: Donte Whitner signs five-year deal". Niagara Gazette. Niagara Falls, New York. August 5, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  9. ^ "Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills - November 28th, 2010". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Weisman, Larry (January 22, 2009). "Annual All-Joe team: Honoring those who won little acclaim". USA Today. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  11. ^ "Super Bowl XLVII - San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens - February 3rd, 2013". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  12. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (October 2, 2013). "Donte Whitner says he's changing last name to 'Hitner'". National Football League. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  13. ^ "San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner: 'We feel like it's our time'". NFL Network. November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  14. ^ Carucci, Vic (March 12, 2014). "Karlos Dansby, Donte Whitner lead Cleveland Browns' free-agent crop". ClevelandBrowns.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014.
  15. ^ "Browns release DB Donte Whitner". ClevelandBrowns.com. April 2, 2016. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  16. ^ "Donte Whitner".
  17. ^ Czarda, Stephen (October 5, 2016). "Redskins Sign Safeties Donte Whitner And Josh Evans". Redskins.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017.
  18. ^ Tesfatsion, Master (October 25, 2016). "Redskins' defense snap counts vs. the Lions: Donte Whitner starts at strong safety". WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  19. ^ Czarda, Stephen (December 28, 2016). "Redskins Sign Josh Evans, Place Donte Whitner Sr. On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
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