S Donte Whitner (Official Thread)

[Buckskin86]

Safety Donte Whitner earns praise from 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh
By Cam Inman
[email protected]
Posted: 08/06/2011

Safety Donte Whitner earned rave reviews from coach Jim Harbaugh after the player's first practice Saturday. It was exactly the first step Whitner had in mind to turn the 49ers' revamped secondary into one of the NFL's elite.

"He looked exceptionally quick today and seemed like he had a real nose for the football," Harbaugh said. "He stood out in today's practice with quite a few plays, in my eyes. He'll be in there competing with Reggie (Smith) and the rest of our guys at the safety position, so I'm excited to watch that competition go down."

An apparent left-leg injury forced Smith out of the majority of practice, and six other safeties split time, including newly acquired veteran Madieu Williams.

Whitner envisions himself taking on a role similar to that of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu; the 49ers' 3-4 scheme is expected to mimic the Steelers'.

"They're going to have me in the sort of mode that Polamalu does in Pittsburgh," said Whitner, who was introduced to the 3-4 last season in his fifth year with the Buffalo Bills. "I'm looking forward to doing things as far as disguise and blitz and really fool with quarterbacks, and coaches are going to allow me to do that."

A getting-to-know-you phone call with Harbaugh helped clinch Whitner's decision to join the 49ers and abandon plans of returning to his native Ohio as a Cincinnati Bengal. Whitner further sought advice from 49ers who are fellow Ohio State products: Ted Ginn Jr., Alex Boone and Larry Grant.

"Yeah, the weather here is a lot better than Ohio," Whitner said. "I don't want to play in the snow anymore."

Through five seasons in Buffalo, he tallied only five interceptions, and he believes he could have doubled that career total last year if it weren't for his drops.

Whitner reportedly signed a three-year, $11.75 million deal with $4 million guaranteed.

"I take responsibility for getting this secondary to be one of the top secondaries," Whitner said. "We're a long way from that right now, but we will be come Game 1. In this secondary, I'm going to take on a leadership role."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_18632949

49ers safety Whitner tackles leadership role
Share
By Matthew Barrows
[email protected]
Published: Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011

SANTA CLARA ? The 49ers brought in free-agent safety Donte Whitner to fill a leadership vacuum in their secondary, and the five-year veteran isn't shying away from his assignment.

"The front seven is set right now, from what I've seen," said Whitner, who went through his first practice Saturday. "We have the 'backers. We have the defensive line. ? What we're really going to have to shore up is the secondary. And I take responsibility for that."

The heart of the 49ers' defense in recent seasons has been its linemen and inside linebackers. That group has been excellent at defending the run, finishing sixth in that category last season.

Defending the pass has been more problematic. The team finished 24th in passing yards allowed in 2010 and gave up 25 touchdowns through the air.

cont..

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/07/3821613/49ers-safety-whitner-tackles-leadership.html#ixzz1UNTaHkcE

 

[Buckskin86]

The sure starters

SS Donte Whitner: Coach Jim Harbaugh isn?t handing out any starting positions before the exhibition season, saying on Monday that the team?s policy of open competition at every position still is in effect. But when Harbaugh does start identifying starters, you can be sure Whitner?s name will be called at strong safety. The veteran shined in his first practice with the team Saturday, then was at the top of the team?s depth chart that was released for the first time this year on Monday. Whitner might already be to San Francisco?s secondary what Justin Smith is to the team?s defensive line and Patrick Willis is to the linebackers corps. Yes, he?s that good, and yes, he?ll be starting from Day 1.

http://sfo.scout.com/2/1093742.html

 

[Buckskin86]

31 Whitner, Donte, S - He could be one of the most important additions of the offseason given his leadership potential (and the fact that defensive standouts Patrick Willis and Justin Smith simply aren't very vocal). The 49ers are using Whitner where he plays best - close to the line of scrimmage.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/49ers/archi...er-review-of-training-camp.html#ixzz1VZQeSUex

Safeties: Donte Whitner might be the 49ers? best free-agent addition if based on performance over the past two weeks, excluding kicker David ?59-yards-equals-an? Akers. He is constantly around the ball, as self-advertised. Dashon Goldson immediately stepped into the first-string role once he re-signed, but I?d like to see newcomer Madieu Williams get a fair shot at that role. Reggie Smith?s minor knee surgery has shelved him the past two weeks. As for Taylor Mays, there were rumors the Chicago Bears tried trading for him, but he?s still here.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2011/08/19/scouting-49ers-position-groups-before-raiders-game/

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91o-8PssEMs"]Donte Whitner 49ers vs Saints Exhibition Game 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

49ers' Donte Whitner eager to face Zach Miller
Eric Branch, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Donald Miralle / Getty Images
Donte Whitner led NFL defensive backs in tackles last year.

In an effort to work himself into a proper pregame tizzy, 49ers safety Donte Whitner took to Twitter on Tuesday morning: "I'm looking forward to covering ZACH MILLER this Sunday. I hear that he's one of the best at his postion. & they say I can't cover TE's."

Later, Whitner, who led NFL defensive backs in tackles last year, was asked about the criticisms of his pass coverage. He mentioned seeing some slights on a few blogs, which Whitner appears to welcome as he readies to meet Seattle's Zach Miller, the former Raiders tight end, in San Francisco's opener Sunday at Candlestick Park.

"As a competitor, you don't necessarily want to have people say good things about you all the time because then you can become complacent," he said. "... It could be a little fake added motivation, or it could be real. But it's something that really gets me going during the week, and when game day comes, you're ready to play."

Whitner clearly appears motivated for his potential one-on-one meetings with Miller, which is welcome news for the 49ers given the fuzzy outlook surrounding the secondary.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/06/SPGE1L0QFH.DTL#ixzz1XGiLB2sd

 

[Buckskin86]

Whitner passionately tackles subject of Lynch's famous run

Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard wild-card gallop through the Saints last season is viewed as one of the greatest runs in NFL history.

Niners safety Donte Whitner, however, views the Seattle running back's instant classic through a different lens. When asked about Lynch's run Tuesday in advance of Sunday's season opener against the Seahawks, Whitner all but plugged his nose.

Whitner takes pride in his ability -- and desire -- to tackle. He ranked fifth in the NFL, and led all defensive backs, with 140 tackles last year. In fact, Whitner was the only non-linebacker to rank among the league's top 13 tacklers.

So what about Lynch's run? Whitner gave credit to Lynch, but, like a five-star chef assessing the quality of boxed mac and cheese, he couldn't hide his distaste for the Saints', ahem, tackling.

"I think that it was really good effort by him, but I think it was a poor effort and poor tackling by the Saints," Whitner said.

"Some guys, it really doesn't look like they went toward him with the intention of actually having to tackle him. If you do that, a lot of times it doesn't turn out well for you as a defender. So, I would say (with) better angles, a little better effort, a little better tackling, I don't know if it ends like that."

In retrospect, I should have asked Whitner specifically about his tackling technique, particularly in light of this excellent Sports Illustrated article on the lost art of tackling in which Patriots coach Bill Belichick says, "We're teaching the same fundamentals we've always taught. But the young players coming in are more in need of that teaching. Execution of the basic techniques has diminished."

Whiter, no doubt, takes pride in his technique.

But he clearly believes successful tackling also involves plenty of tenacity.

"Stopping the run doesn't come because of scheme," he said. "It comes because of want-to -- guys wanting to get the running back on the ground and wanting to put them into those third-and-long situations."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ninerinsider/detail?entry_id=96999#ixzz1XMXEoxAc

49ers notebook: Safety Donte Whitner set for debut as 'quarterback' of the 49ers' secondary
By Cam Inman [email protected]
Posted: 09/07/2011

The 49ers are ready to unveil their new quarterback -- for their secondary, that is.

Strong safety Donte Whitner, one of 19 newcomers this year under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, will make his 49ers debut in Sunday's regular-season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.

"We expect him to be kind of the quarterback of our secondary, and we're very pleased to have him," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Tuesday.

That secondary might be missing two projected starters: Cornerback Shawntae Spencer is battling a month-long hamstring strain, and free safety Dashon Goldson reportedly has a sore knee. Tarell Brown is slated on the depth chart to start at cornerback opposite Carlos Rogers, and Goldson is still listed ahead of Madieu Williams at free safety.

As for Whitner, he is primed for a fresh start, having endured five losing campaigns with the Buffalo Bills.

When he joined the 49ers a month ago, he vowed to become the 49ers' version of Pittsburgh Steelers play-making safety Troy Polamalu. In the exhibition season, Fangio kept Whitner under wraps and blitzed him only once.

"They allow me to play a lot of different positions back there in different packages. I'm looking forward to it," Whitner said Tuesday. "Those type of things allow you to go make plays, disguise and show different looks."

Cont...

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18842234

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

I wasn't aware of how much control he has over the 49er defense. Sounds like he is the leader of it, and hasn't even played one game there yet.

Go get em Donte.

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte Whitner post-game 9 11 11

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte Whitner proves boyhood doctors wrong
Posted on September 17, 2011
by San Francisco Chronicle

-- By age 8, Donte Whitner already had defied a dire medical prognosis.

If he wanted to play football, though, the kid who'd been told he might not walk again had to defy Deborah Whitner, his no-nonsense single mom.

Deborah wasn't about to let Donte put on shoulder pads and strap on a helmet two years after his legs had been shattered - both broken in more than 30 places - when he was hit by a speeding car.

In response, Whitner, the 49ers' hard-hitting safety, defiantly took his first steps toward the NFL by following a friend to a Pop Warner practice and forging his mom's signature on the paperwork needed to play for the Cleveland Warriors. For the first few weeks, he took off his uniform before he got home and hid it in the backyard.

Whitner, who signed a three-year, $11.75 million contract with the Niners in August after spending his first five seasons in Buffalo, smiled last week as he recalled his covert beginnings.

"My mom did find out one day," he said. "She didn't whip me that time, but I'm sure she wanted to."
Man of the house

In an odd twist, Whitner's dogged determination to play football, among the most violent of sports, protected him as he grew up in inner-city Cleveland. Whitner was raised without his father, Lindsey Robinson, who spent the first 16 years of his son's life in jail on robbery and drug charges. Whitner has several uncles and cousins who have also served time.

As a result, Whitner, starting at 12, often served as the self-appointed man of a house that included his younger brother, five adopted nephews and Deborah, who did janitorial and nursing work to make ends meet.

His father's absence - and the burden it placed on the family - stirred up waves of anger and bitterness in Whitner. And he found a release for his aggression in the sport he went to great lengths to play.

"As a young kid, I was probably angry a lot because he wasn't there," Whitner said. "When I went on the football field, I wanted to hit everybody and it felt good to me. Even now playing the game, I look for those things. I look to be physical. I look to play the game the way I play it because I think everyone should play the game angry. ...

"You can run at somebody full speed with your body on the football field. If you do that in public, you're going to jail."

Whitner's physical style has served him well. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft out of Ohio State, he ranked fifth in the NFL with 140 tackles last season and was the only defensive back to rank among the league's top 13 in the category. Last Sunday, his 49ers debut included five tackles, including a textbook takedown of running back Marshawn Lynch in the open field in a 33-17 win over Seattle.
Ginn recalls toughness

Niners wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was Whit-ner's teammate at Glenville High and his father, Ted Ginn Sr., was their coach. Both Ginns laughed last week as they recalled their early memories of Whitner, who, as a sophomore, had earned the nickname "Lights Out" from his teammates, some of whom he'd light up in practice.

"It's true," Ginn Sr. said. "I used to kind of rein him back in practice because he was hurting kids."

Whitner explains that after spending his freshman year on a scholarship at a private, Catholic school, Benedictine, he wanted to prove to his new public-school teammates that he wasn't soft. They got the message.

"I used to attack people in practice all the time until coach Ginn would tell me to calm down a little bit," Whit-ner said. "He put a rule in that you can't hit the young guys. They were frightened to come near me in practice."

cont....

http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2011/09/17/donte-whitner-proves-boyhood-doctors-wrong/

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte Whitner, [WR] Ted Ginn were able to get home and spend time with their relatives. I found out

Two Cleveland guys, Alex Boone who you mentioned, and Ted Ginn Jr. who you alluded to earlier?

? Donte Whitner.?

Yeah. The first two, can you give me your thoughts, I know Ted had the great first game with those returns, Alex has seen a little bit of time, just some thoughts on those two players?

?They?re both really good players. Both true pros and Donte Whitner is a pro?s pro in that regard. They work extremely hard, very bright guys. Football guys through and through. Ted Ginn, coach?s son. Donte Whitner, like Alex Boone, they both come from great programs and have been trained the right way. They?re examples for everybody on our team, and making their mark on the field and contributing to our football team in a big way.?

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2011/09/28/youngstown-diary-day-3-day-1-of-practice/

 

[Buckskin86]

Frank Gore, Donte Whitner expected to play
Eric Branch, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 1, 2011

Youngstown, Ohio --

After they watched from the sideline at the end of last week's win over the Bengals, running back Frank Gore and safety Donte Whitner are expected to play Sunday against the Eagles, according to Niners coach Jim Harbaugh. Gore (ankle) and Whitner (hip) have been limited in practice this week, and their status had been in question. They were both listed as questionable on the team's official injury report, which was released after the team's final practice at Youngstown State on Friday. But Harbaugh, speaking before practice, was optimistic that Gore, Whitner and Michael Crabtree (foot) would be ready to go.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/30/SPHP1LBJSO.DTL#ixzz1ZcyuYbYz

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte Whitner has two personalities
Posted on November 3, 2011 by Grant Cohn

SANTA CLARA ? Donte Whitner talks slow and low like he?s your grandfather. But on the football field he?s a completely different person. Whitner explained this phenomenon to me today in the 49ers locker room.

GC: Do you have two different personalities?

WHITNER: You have to. If you take your aggressive personality home to your wife and your kids there?s going to be some trouble in the household. Your kids are going to pick up on your aggressive nature. Your wife or your spouse is going to be intimidated of you and they?re not really going to like the person that you are. Whenever you step on the football field in the National Football League you have to almost transform, and you have to play with a sense of attitude and a sense of purpose. So, I would say you do have to have two personalities. Same thing goes with Brian Dawkins. On the field he calls himself ?Wolverine.? At home he?s a Christian man, very mild mannered, low tone. You have to be able to transform into two different people, on and off the field.

GC: When did you realize you needed two personalities to play this game?

WHITNER: High school. You go through the school day and you have a good day, but when you step on the football field you have somebody trying to attack you and you have to attack them. I?ve never seen a guy out there on the football field being mild mannered and really play with an aggressive style, with an attitude.

GC: What?s your trigger to change personalities?

WHITNER: The smell of the grass. The smell of the popcorn in the stadium.

(Bonus question for Blake Costanzo):

GC: Do defensive players around the league have two different personalities?

COSTANZO: Oh yeah, for sure, especially some dudes on our defense. Like Dashon (Goldson) ? you see him in the locker room dancing, smiling, and then when he gets on the field he?s a stone cold killer. Donte as well. You see Donte ? he?s a little dude but he just brings it when he?s on that field on Sunday. So, I think a lot of guys can turn it on and off, but really they?re just ballers.

http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011/11/inside-the-49ers/donte-whitner-has-two-personalities/

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte recovers fumble- NFL Network

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte interview- NFL Network

 

[Buckskin86]

Whitner INT - NFL Network

 

[Buckskin86]

Donte Whitner on the Niners run D: ?It?s the best run defense I?ve ever seen.?
Posted on December 1, 2011 by Grant Cohn

SANTA CLARA ? This afternoon in the locker room I asked Donte Whitner about the Niners run defense, and here?s what he said.

Q: Is this the best run defense you?ve ever seen? And what makes it so special?

WHITNER: I think it is the best run defense I?ve ever seen. My perspective is like this: I came from Buffalo last year. We gave up I think almost eight two hundred yard rushers. Eight different rushers with two hundred yards. Do you understand that? I think that?s some type of record. We were up there in rushing touchdowns, too (they gave up 18), so to have a rush defense like this who won?t allow a hundred yard rusher, who?s physical and who won?t give up rushing touchdowns ? that?s tremendous, it?s historical, it?s never been done. I would say that if we do go the entire football season without giving up a rushing touchdown then you have to say this is the best rushing defense to ever play in the National Football League collectively as a defense. We go into football games saying that no running back can run the football on us, we?re going to force the quarterback to beat us and we?re going to make them one-dimensional. We?ve been able to do that all year, and that?s why we?re 9-2. So, if we can continue to do that, we?ll be in pretty good position when playoff time rolls around.

Q: Is it just the perfect combination of players and coaches, or is it something else?

cont...

http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2011...run-d-its-the-best-run-defense-ive-ever-seen/