More expected of Whitner and Buffalo Bills defense
Sal Maiorana ? Staff writer ? July 24, 2009
There have not been, nor will there be, any guarantees emanating from the mouth of Donte Whitner this year.
Well, at least not publicly.
"I could if I want to, but I'm not because people take it and run with it," said Whitner, who saw that happen first hand last year when he guaranteed in the spring of 2008 that the Bills would make the playoffs, then saw that bold statement blow up in his face when the team stumbled to another 7-9 finish.
"We'll see how the season goes," Whitner continued, "but I think we'll have a good one. I'm not saying it verbally, but the expectations are still high."
Whitner knows all about expectations, and the perception of not being able to fulfill them.
From a team standpoint the Bills fell way short of living up to preseason expectations in 2008, blowing a 5-1 start and missing the playoffs for the ninth year in a row, of which Whitner has been a part of the last three.
And individually, though Whitner disagrees with the opinion of some that he has fallen short of the expectations that come from being the eighth overall pick in the 2006 draft, he admits that he has heard the grumbling.
"I don't really listen to any of it," Whitner said. "Any other team I talk to, they congratulate me on the way I play the game. The natural thing to do would be to get frustrated, but you have to understand people's mindset.
"You have to understand that a lot of people who talk haven't played the game or played in the NFL. Now if it was a lot of people inside the NFL who watched the film and knew football and said those things, that would be a different story."
Actually, Whitner has begun to pay attention. A couple weeks ago Whitner noticed a Fox Sports report that appeared on ProFootballTalk.com that indicated there was a chance he could lose his starting job. Whitner spent part of a day on his Twitter account railing about the story.
