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S Donte Whitner (Official Thread)

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Whitner's Blog: Happy Holidays
Posted Dec 21, 2012
Donte Whitner Hard-Hitting Journalist @DonteWhitner Players Only Blog

It meant a lot to beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots last week. That?s the first time I?ve beaten them. I was 0-10 versus them before I came here to San Francisco. Really, it?s another chapter that?s gotten better in my career since I?ve been in San Francisco. When you?re facing a future Hall of Famer, guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, you really have to be on you?re A-game to beat those guys. It?s really a feat to beat those guys.

Last Sunday, we went out in a tough environment and took care of business. We got a win and it felt excellent. It also felt good to force one of four turnovers against the Patriots. Whenever you can force turnovers like that, it?s big for the football team. My forced fumble was a routine play. I put my head on the football ? the ball popped up ? and Dashon Goldson returned it 50-plus yards. I wish he would?ve gotten a touchdown out of it, but we put our offense in scoring position and they went in and scored. It?s always good when you can force a turnover, get it and get in the end zone. That?s a plus for our football team. I?m all about doing anything to help our football team, and obviously, turnovers are big. It was a big play in the game.

After the game, it felt great shaking hands with the Patriots, knowing they were going home with a loss. Usually, they?re the ones shaking hands, smiling in your face, saying ?good game.? It was great to get that win. We understand that they took it personally ? it was a win that both of us needed. They needed to win stay No. 2 in the AFC playoff race and we needed a win to stay at No. 2 in the NFC playoff race. It was a big game for everybody and we?re glad to come out with the ?W.?

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http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...Holidays/5397d859-b638-4a1d-b9bf-11e82eb84b0a
 
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Whitner Makes Pro Bowl Debut as Starter
Posted by Taylor Price on December 26, 2012

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For the first time since 2005, a safety tandem from the same team has been named as starters for the NFC.

Safety Donte Whitner, a first-time Pro Bowler, joins teammate Dashon Goldson, as this year?s NFC safety tandem.

?It?s a long time coming,? said Whitner, a seven-year veteran who was previously honored as an alternate for the Buffalo Bills and again on last year?s 49ers team.

Whitner didn?t lose much sleep over being looked over for the six other seasons of his professional, but did let it be known that getting the nod in his seventh year was a solid accomplishment

?Actually making it,? Whitner began, ?actually being recognized by your coaches, players and peers? it feels great.?

It was hard to deny the hard-hitting 49ers safety from this year?s All-Star team.

Whitner ranks fourth on the 49ers defense with 112 tackles to go along with a career-high two forced fumbles, one interception and five pass breakups.

Not only was the 49ers strong safety pleased to be honored, it made it even sweeter to be selected along with Goldson.

?I think he deserves it,? Whitner explained. ?We take pride in our game. We take pride in our preparation? People around the league recognized it. I believe nobody is more deserving than being a starting free safety in the Pro Bowl than he does.

?He makes my job a lot easier and I?m sure I make his a lot easier, too.?

Whitner thanked the 49ers coaching staff for helping him make the Pro Bowl. He was also classy in acknowledging coaches, teammates and personnel members of the Buffalo Bills who helped the early stages of his professional career which began as the No. 8 overall pick in 2008.

?I give a lot of thanks to those guys,? Whitner said of his former colleagues with the Bills. ?When you make it to the Pro Bowl, you never make it by yourself a lot of people help you get there.?

Whitner concluded his conference call by explaining the goals that are still left on the table for the 49ers.

?We?ve reached a couple of them already, win this week and we?ll reach another one as NFC West champions,? Whitner said.
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http://blog.49ers.com/2012/12/26/whitner-makes-pro-bowl-debut-as-starter/
 
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First Pro Bowl, now Super Bowl: Donte Whitner keeps moving on

January 21, 2013

By Tim Graham

Whether you like it or not, Donte Whitner is going to the Super Bowl.

Whitner, the polarizing former Buffalo Bills safety, extended his Pro Bowl season Sunday by helping the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 28-24, in the Georgia Dome.

Whitner failed to live up to the expectations of an eighth overall draft choice in his five seasons with Buffalo. He delivered colorful quotes but didn't standout on a lousy defense. Fans bemoaned the idea of a safety being drafted that high, wishing the team had taken quarterback Jay Cutler or defensive tackle Haloti Ngata instead.

Ngata also will play in Super Bowl XLVII for the Baltimore Ravens. So will cornerback Corey Graham, a Turner-Carroll graduate, who had 11 tackles in the Ravens' victory over the New England Patriots.

Whitner left Buffalo with five interceptions, 19 pass breakups, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one recovery in 69 games.

In 31 games for San Francisco he has three interceptions, 15 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and four recoveries.

Now he's one step away from winning a world championship after making it to the NFL title game a season ago.

"It feels good to finally get last year behind us," Whitner said on San Francisco Chronicle writer Eric Branch's blog. "Up until this moment, all of us were still feeling last year, whether they would say it or not. We felt that loss."

Atlanta jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the season quarter. Wide receiver Julio Jones was dominant, including a touchdown over Whitner's head.

But San Francisco shut out the NFC's top seed in the second quarter.

"Over the last two years, our short history of being together, we never blink," Whitner said in a story by Bay Area News Group reporter Monte Poole. "When things go bad out there -- we give up a touchdown or blow a coverage or miss a tackle -- we never blink because we know we can fix it.

"We know who we are. We know the capabilities of these guys in this locker room."
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http://blogs.buffalonews.com/press-...super-bowl-donte-whitner-keeps-moving-on.html
 
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Whitner: ?Miscommunication is why we had difficulties in the first half last week.?
Posted on January 24, 2013 by Grant Cohn

SANTA CLARA ? Donte Whitner spoke in the locker room Thursday afternoon. This is what he said.

Q: You said Joe Flacco has made improvement. Can you put a time stamp on that? Did you see a change when Jim Caldwell was made the offensive coordinator, or just during these past playoff games?

WHITNER: I don?t know if you can say that, but I know since they changed offensive coordinators he?s been throwing the ball deep. They?ve been connecting on a lot of their plays. I would say that?s a testament to them changing offensive coordinators and Joe Flacco being aware and into the game plan and out there making plays.

Q: Some people question Flacco?s ?eliteness.? Is that ridiculous?

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http://49ers.pressdemocrat.com/2013/01/inside-the-49ers/14606/
 
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Goldson, Whitner give 49ers potent 1-2 punch
Posted on January 25, 2013
By Eric Branch

SAN FRANCISCO ? Unfortunately for NFL wide receivers, two of the league?s most violent tacklers didn?t listen to their moms.

San Francisco starting safeties Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner got their start in football by playing Pop Warner on the sly.

In Los Angeles, Goldson, a fourth-grader, used his birthday money to sign up for the Tri-City Falcons. In Ohio, an 8-year-old Whitner hid his football equipment in the backyard after returning from practice with the Cleveland Warriors.

By the time they eventually were found out, it was too late. The aggressive sport provided an outlet for two kids who barely knew their biological fathers ? Goldson considers his stepfather his real dad; Whitner?s father spent the first 16 years of his son?s life in jail.

High praise for duo

About two decades removed from their covert beginnings, Goldson, 28, and Whitner, 27, have plenty in common. This season, they became the first safeties on the same team to become Pro Bowl starters since Philadelphia?s Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis in 2005.

?To me, Whitner and Goldson are the two best tackling safeties in the game,? said CBS analyst and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who had a pair of Pro Bowl safeties in Carnell Lake and Troy Polamalu. ?They?ve had the ability to transition into this very limited area that you can now tackle and hit players. And, at times, you do miss it by an inch or two inches. And you have to suffer the consequences of that.?

Whitner and Goldson have effectively played old-school football under new NFL rules that can sabotage attempts at intimidation. In an increasingly safety-conscious league, they haven?t always hit their shrinking targets (Goldson has been fined $38,875 for three hits), but neither is known for dirty play.

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http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2013/01/goldson-whitner-give-49ers-potent-1-2-punch/
 
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San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner has had an awakening
Largely a disappointment at Buffalo, he has filled the bill the last two seasons as a contributor to the Super Bowl-bound 49ers' defense.
By Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2013

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San Francisco safety Donte Whitner was selected to the Pro Bowl this season. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images / January 20, 2013)

NEW ORLEANS ? If all goes well for safety Donte Whitner, Sunday night will go the way his first night with the San Francisco 49ers did.

Meaning he won't get a wink of sleep.

Traditionally, the team that wins the Super Bowl has an all-night party after the game.

Whitner pulled an all-nighter on his first day with the 49ers last season, but it was far from a party. In an effort to retool the secondary, then-rookie Coach Jim Harbaugh signed Whitner in August 2011 and expected him to get up to speed right away.

"They told me, 'You're starting the next game. You've got to be very vocal,'" recalled Whitner, who spent his first five seasons with Buffalo. "So I stayed up all night. At training camp the next day, I was exhausted, but it just showed them I was willing to work and come in and lead this team. That's the first thing Coach Harbaugh said to me was 'I want you to come in and lead the secondary.'"

Whitner, who made his first Pro Bowl this season, is a fixture on a 49ers defense that has been among the league's best over the last two seasons. He has three interceptions the last two seasons, with 15 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.

Last season, the 49ers and Green Bay Packers tied with an NFL-high 38 takeaways. The 49ers were closer to the middle of the pack in that statistic this season with 25 ? miles behind the Chicago Bears' 44 ? but San Francisco did a good job throughout the season of not giving up big plays (with the win over the Falcons at Atlanta being the exception).

"I didn't know him, but he came in with a quality we were missing," linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. "He added such athleticism, and such a smart, student-of-the-game aspect to our defense."

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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-donte-whitner-49ers-20130129,0,433467.story
 
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Super Bowl notebook: Whitner enjoying his time with 49ers
BY: Mark Gaughan / The Buffalo News | @gggaughan ,
Tim Graham / News Sports Reporter | @ByTimGraham

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NEW ORLEANS ? Donte Whitner is one game away from comprehensive vindication.

The Buffalo Bills? polarizing 2006 first-round draft pick was voted to his first Pro Bowl and will win a world championship Sunday if the San Francisco 49ers beat the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.

Whitner claimed he?s the same player he was with Buffalo.

?I think sometimes players just get drafted into the wrong system and come into a bad situation,? Whitner said, ?and there?s really nothing you can do about it except go out and work hard, let everybody talk and let the chips fall where they may.?

Whitner said Bills coach Dick Jauron?s Tampa 2-style defense limited his ability to make plays. Although playing with All-Pro linebackers Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman and Aldon Smith and safety DaShon Goldson is easier than with Keith Ellison, Chris Kelsay and Ko Simpson.

Whitner left Buffalo with five interceptions, 19 breakups, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one recovery in 69 games. In 31 regular-season games for San Francisco he has three interceptions, 15 pass breakups, three forced fumbles and four recoveries.

?I wish I was drafted into a system like this,? Whitner said, ?a 3-4 system, where you play quarters, you play Cover 2, you play Cover 3, you play fire zone, you allow the players to make the calls on the field and you don?t make it all about coaching.?
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http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130130/SPORTS/130139980/1003

Donte Whitner's Wednesday Super Bowl transcript
By Marla Ridenour Published: January 30, 2013

Here's what San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner, an Ohio State and Glenville High School product, had to say during Wednesday's Super Bowl media session.

(on if it’s easy to stay focused on football this week) “Well, when you have the type of guys that we have, we really like to play football. We’re really not here for everything else. We’re here to play football and to come back with a ring. So, yeah, it’s easy for us to switch off and on.”
(on the biggest way LB Ahmad Brooks has grown this year) “He’s just tremendously focused out there. And you can tell it – he was second-team All-Pro. He’s out there getting to the quarterback. Even if he doesn’t get sacks, he’s putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback, setting the edge on the run, getting all of the blocks, being extremely physical, tossing a lot of tight ends around, and that’s what we like him to do. So, that’s why he was second-team All-Pro.”
(on the successes of Brooks and DT Ray McDonald that gets overlooked) “He and Ray are extremely physical on that side, teams do not run the football to that side. Really, teams can’t really run the football on us at all. We have four guys up there that are extremely physical, extremely talented, and they really make this defense. That’s why we play like we do, because those guys go out and work the way that they do. All four of them are top guys in the National Football League.”
(on a unique challenge that Ravens RB Ray Rice brings to the game) “Well he’s a smaller guy, so he can hide behind some of those linemen and pop out at the last minute. Extremely shifty, and they like to use him in the pass game also. Try to work your linebackers. Joe (Flacco) can go deep, and (if) the second or third receiver isn’t open, you better believe it’s coming down to Ray Rice – and Ray Rice makes a lot of plays in the pass game also. So we have to know where he is at all times.”
(on the challenge facing Joe Flacco) “Extremely, extremely strong arm. Likes to take chances, but he’s extremely accurate on the deep ball, also. Some other thing we’re going to have to do is understand that when he’s being pressured in the pocket, the play can sometimes be extended. If you’re not continuing to stay deep in your deep zones, then that’s when you’ll get beat. We understand that, it’s something that we haven’t really seen, and we just have to keep those guys in front of us and not allow them to get behind us.”

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http://www.ohio.com/blogs/marla/mar...er-s-wednesday-super-bowl-transcript-1.369186

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YozHU3KGSC4"]Super Bowl Media Day Interview - Donte Whitner - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4pZ8IXH1rc"]Deborah Whitner Talks about her Son (Donte') 2013 - YouTube[/ame]
 
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osucollegebuck;2298192; said:
I'm so happy to see the success he is having and as a Bills fan, I got so tired the blame Donte would receive. He really got the last laugh as he was run out of Buffalo.
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Hey coll-buck; I saw last night Mel Kiper has Buffalo taking Manti Teo with the 8th pick in the draft. I bet Bills fans would love that one.:wink2:
 
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