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Buckskin86
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Donte Whitner: Any big hit in the NFL is automatically a flag
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 23, 2013
AP
San Francisco safety Donte Whitner was penalized on the first play of Sunday’s loss to the Colts. He wasn’t happy about it.
“It was a bad call,” Whitner told CSNBayArea.com. “I guess it was a big hit. Any big hit now in the National Football League is automatically a flag.”
Whitner drilled Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw after Bradshaw picked up three yards on a short pass and a flag flew immediately. Referee Terry McAulay announced, “Personal foul, unnecessary roughness, illegal contact with the crown of the helmet by the defender,” and marched off 15 yards for the Colts.
But replays showed that Whitner led with his shoulder, not the crown of his helmet. Whitner is right: The officials called a penalty not because he led with the crown of his helmet, but because he hit Bradshaw hard, and NFL officials have been so conditioned to look for helmet-to-helmet contact that sometimes they see that contact even when it isn’t there.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...y-big-hit-in-the-nfl-is-automatically-a-flag/
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Buckskin86
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Whitner on penalized hit: ‘I think I’m just supposed to let them catch a TD now’
Posted on September 28, 2013
Another week, another penalized hit … another incorrect call by an unofficial?
That’s Donte Whitner’s stance after the 49ers safety was flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty for his end-zone hit on Rams wide receiver Chris Givens on Thursday night.
Givens soared high to grab a would-be 12-yard touchdown, but Whitner separated him from the ball with a jarring left-shoulder-to-the-helmet shot.
Incompletion. Penalty flag.
“I think I’m just supposed to let them catch a touchdown now,” Whitner said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Friday (audio here). “I think that’s what the National Football League wants, but I’m not going to give them that. I’m going to continue to play physical, continue to hit the right way, lead with my shoulder, and I’m not targeting anybody’s head.”
In Week 3, Whitner had a similar message for the NFL after he was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty for hitting Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw with the crown of his helmet. Replays, however, showed Whitner hit Bradshaw with his shoulder. The NFL subsequently said the hit was legal and Whitner wouldn’t be fined.
“I guess it was a big hit,” Whitner said after the loss to the Colts. “Any big hit now in the National Football League is automatically a flag.”
On Thursday, Whitner clearly delivered a shoulder to Givens’ facemask, snapping the wideout’s head back. Whitner noted the difficulty of avoiding an offensive player’s head in such a situation. Whitner raced over to hit Givens, who was in mid-air and coming down with the ball when he was belted.
“For a guy that’s going up to catch a football and coming down, it’s hard to find where to hit him,” Whitner said. “And I even backed off a little bit, turned and gave him my shoulder. So I don’t know what I was supposed to do in that situation or what they want me to do.”
Whitner plans to appeal if he’s fined for the hit. Noting his hit on Bradshaw, he’s hopeful an appeal won’t be necessary.
“They gave me a 15-yard flag and two days later they called the 49ers and said it wasn’t a flag, it was a legal play and I wouldn’t be fined,” he said. “So it looks like it could possibly be the same thing two weeks in a row.”
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2013/0...-im-just-supposed-to-let-them-catch-a-td-now/
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Whitner says he’s changing his name
49ers safety Donte Whitner was fined $21,000 for a Thursday night hit, and he’s not happy about it.
He’s sufficiently unhappy about it to protest the fine by launching a collection of four T-shirts bearing the message “#LegalHitner.”
(At $28 per shirt, here’s hoping it comes with a bowl of soup. Or a three-pound lobster.)
Now, Whitner has gotten so caught up in the movement that he is changing his name to, yes, Hitner. (At least his new name doesn’t look and sound like the name of one of the most hated and despicable men who ever lived. Oh, wait.)
Whitner has announced on his Twitter page that, after getting permission from his mother, Whitner officially has dropped the “W” in his name.
Entire article: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/02/whitner-says-hes-changing-his-name/
49ers safety Donte Whitner was fined $21,000 for a Thursday night hit, and he’s not happy about it.
He’s sufficiently unhappy about it to protest the fine by launching a collection of four T-shirts bearing the message “#LegalHitner.”
(At $28 per shirt, here’s hoping it comes with a bowl of soup. Or a three-pound lobster.)
Now, Whitner has gotten so caught up in the movement that he is changing his name to, yes, Hitner. (At least his new name doesn’t look and sound like the name of one of the most hated and despicable men who ever lived. Oh, wait.)
Whitner has announced on his Twitter page that, after getting permission from his mother, Whitner officially has dropped the “W” in his name.
Entire article: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/02/whitner-says-hes-changing-his-name/
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osucollegebuck
Nathan Williams #43
Can't he just be creative and do something like #LegalwHitner?
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Buckskin86
Moderator
Donte Whitner Playing ‘Better’ in 2013
Taylor Price 49ers.com @TaylorPrice49
The name change might be overshadowing the on-field product.
Donte Whitner made headlines when he revealed his plans to officially file paperwork and change his last name to “Hitner,” but the 49ers safety has earned praise from his coaches for his recent stretch of play.
Most of what’s been written about the 49ers safety has been about his name and not his play on the field.
Whitner, an eighth-year pro, has 32 tackles, five pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble through the first 6 weeks of the 2013 season. In comparison, Whitner had 27 tackles, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and no interceptions in the opening six games of the 2012 season.
“I think he’s played even better than he had last year when he made the Pro Bowl,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said last week. “He’s still tackling very well. He’s running our operation back there… He’s just playing with a lot more confidence. And he’s playing a little bit faster.”
Fangio credited Whitner’s knowledge of San Francisco’s defense as a key factor in his steady play in 2013.
“He’s having a lot of fun and he’s kind of become a leader of the secondary, and a leader on the team,” Fangio added.
cont...
http://www.49ers.com/news/article-2...-in-2013/fb3f56a6-824d-4414-be9c-7f19e1662e9d
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Buckskin86
Moderator
Whitner couldn't change name to 'Hitner' until mom gave approval
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Whitner officially changing name to 'Hitner'
October 2, 2013
Donte Whitner was flagged and fined $21,000 for a shoulder-to-helmet hit against the Rams. (USA TODAY IMAGES)
SANTA CLARA -- Pro Bowl 49ers safety Donte Whitner, who was fined $21,000 for what the NFL determined was an illegal hit, invested an additional $27 in a legal name change this week.
“Yeah, it’s legal,” Whitner said. “I’m taking the ‘W’ off. H-I-T-N-E-R.”
That’s right. His new legal name will be Donte Hitner, and he hopes to have it become official with his new name on the back of his 49ers jersey for the team’s Oct. 13 game against the Arizona Cardinals at Candlestick Park.
“I hope so,” he said. “I have my fingers crossed.”
Whitner said Wednesday he has thought about a legal name change for some time. All he needed was approval from his mother, Deborah, to make it legal. Deborah Robinson plans to change her name back to Whitner, her maiden name, Donte said.
“I asked my mom,” he said. “She said no in the summer. And she said, 'yes' three nights ago. It’s pretty cool.”
Donte said his uncle, recently released from prison, helped convince her to allow the name change.
“My uncle just came home and he pretty much convinced her,” Donte said. “He was there for me as a little boy and he went away for awhile in prison. We talk all the time.
“He said, ‘This is the National Football League, you’ve always had a dream to do this and your name coincides with what you like to do on the football field. I think taking $27 and taking a letter off your name is worth it.’”
cont...
http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/whitner-officially-changing-name-hitner
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Buckskin86
Moderator
http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-Whitner-has-improved-on-pass-coverage-5024848.php49ers' Whitner has improved on pass coverage
Eric Branch
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Dante Whitner's pass-coverage skills, an issue last season, have improved this year. Photo: Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images
As with many stories of self-improvement, Donte Whitner's began with a question: What are my weaknesses?
Such a query, of course, can be difficult to pose because the answer can deflate egos and shatter self-images.
And that was the case with the 49ers' safety, who received candid feedback this offseason from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and secondary coach Ed Donatell.
Whitner, 28, an elite run-stopper who is among the NFL's hardest-hitting safeties, was coming off the first Pro Bowl season of his career in 2012.
Still, the assistants weren't stumped for an answer to his question: According to Pro Football Focus, Whitner last season allowed the most touchdown passes (eight) among safeties, and quarterbacks had a 128.5 passer rating when throwing in his direction, the second-highest mark in the league.
How can how you improve, Donte? Whitner knew what was coming. But that didn't make it easier to digest.
"In any phase of life, any type of job that you have, if someone tells you that you suck at part of it, it's really going to pierce you," Whitner said. "And that's basically what they told me. Vic Fangio and coach Donatell basically said, 'This is part of your game that you suck at.' ... So, it's humbling. It did sting for a couple weeks."
Seven months later, it's clear Whitner responded by perspiring instead of pouting.
After 11 games, the fruits of his offseason work are on display. Among the 52 safeties who have played 500 snaps, Whitner ranks sixth in passer rating allowed (55.8), is tied for second in passes defensed (five) and is fourth in completion percentage surrendered (52.9). In addition, he has allowed one touchdown pass and has matched his career high with two interceptions.
cont...
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Buckskin86
Moderator
Donte Whitner on future: ‘I definitely want to be here’
Posted on December 3, 2013
by Eric Branch in 49ers
On the heels of the first All-Pro season of his career in 2012, 49ers safety Dashon Goldson cashed in, landing a five-year, $41.25 million contract from Tampa Bay in March.
Could that bit of recent history repeat itself this spring?
Safety Donte Whitner, a Pro Bowler in 2012 who is in the midst of his best season, is the final year of a three-year, $11.75 million contract. In July, he acknowledged he’d like to join players such as right tackle Anthony Davis, linebacker NaVorro Bowman and defensive tackle Justin Smith and receive a contract extension.
Nearly five months later, though, Whitner is prepared to hit the free-agent market in March.
“There’s no news on that front,” Whitner said last week when asked about in-season contract talks. “I want to be here, but like every team they have whatever they’re going to do. They have their (salary) cap, they have guys that they want to be bring back. I don’t know. We have five regular-season games left, so we’ll see where it goes from there. I definitely want to be here. I think we have something special on this defense. Young guy like (rookie) Eric Reid, I like playing with him. I like this secondary and the rest of the guys. I like coming to work. So we’ll see what happens.”
Whitner, 28, figures to earn a lucrative deal – somewhere – due to his physicality, leadership and vastly improved coverage skills. I spoke to Whitner about his upgraded coverage for this story last week. Since Whitner is always interesting, I thought the highlights of the interview were worth sharing:
(Secondary coach) Ed Donatell said you approached him in the offseason and said you wanted to improve ….
DW: That’s when I asked him for all the things I could get better on. He went up there, he took a couple weeks, he broke it down individually, as far as each individual play. Coverage at one point. Different coverages. Cover 3. Cover 2. Cover 1. I went up there probably three or four times, sat with him in his office. We would watch the film together, break it down and he would show me, this is where you need to improve. The first thing I needed to improve on was I dropped some weight. I was used to playing around 206.
Right now I’m playing around 200. He told me that he needed me – Vic (Fangio) actually told coach Donatell that he needed me to get better in all phases of coverage. So that was another thing that fueled me. I didn’t realize that a lot of people — even with LeBron James and even with Michael Jordan — they are always going to say there’s something that you can’t do. So you’ve got to take that thing they say you can’t do, that you struggle on, and try to make it a plus. And I feel like I’ve done that this year.
What fueled you to improve?
cont...
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2013/12/03/donte-whitner-on-future-i-definitely-want-to-be-here/
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