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Despite rarely producing an impact on the football field throughout his five-year tenure in Buffalo, likely soon to be ex-Bills safety Donte Whitner continues to say… and write plenty dramatic things off it.
It’s a poorly kept secret Bills general manager Buddy Nix along with the majority of the team’s fans think Whitner is certifiably insane for publicly stating he wants top-five safety money with his next contract. Therefore, Whitner has seen and heard plenty of chatter wishing him a farewell en route to his next destination—whenever free agency begins.
Whitner’s comments via his Twitter Sunday aren’t likely to land him any new supporters on a return to the team.
“mornin’ message to Buffalo Bills fans… Be careful what you wish for!… Good day.” Whitner tweeted.
Clearly he acknowledges other than a miniscule percentage of Bills backers, most have long ago been ready for Whitner to take his talents elsewhere.
Well, maybe he doesn’t quite get it after all.
“A lot of what I do/did kept our ENTIRE secondary together.” Whitner later added.
That’s where the delusional portion of his mindset regularly kicks in. This is a guy who started for five years, played in 69 games and accumulated five interceptions, two sack and three forced fumbles— in FIVE SEASONS!
And don’t counter by questioning how can he make plays when the front seven is atrocious theory. George Wilson has more picks over his last two season (six) than Whitner has in his five-year career, and with far less playing time. Wilson also has more sacks. To make matters worse, Bryan Scott has made more impact plays with less playing time than Wilson let alone Whitner. Scott has six sacks in his three years in Buffalo and had three tackles for losses in 2010.
Don’t even get me started on Jairus Byrd.
Sure Whitner had a lot of tackles, 140 of them to be exact according to the team’s official statistics. Guess how many of those tackles went for losses behind the line of scrimmage? That would be all of one. Plus, receiving tight ends salivated at the opportunity to get to know Whitner better for about three or so hours every Sunday. How much of his tackle total was padded by bringing down pass catchers after they beat him for a reception down the field for a first down?
Some think I’ve had a personal agenda against Whitner, which is utterly false, although he did “block” me from Twitter after seeing and apparently not appreciating my timeline. I’m not paid to like or dislike football players, plus I doubt any of you care about my personal feelings. Simply put, it’s almost unfathomable how Whitner continues to say much when he’s done so little.
To me he’s the equivalent of a cornerback celebrating after a pass breakup— despite the fact it’s the fourth quarter and he’s been torched for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2008 Whitner publicly embarrassed the organization after guaranteeing the Bills would make the playoffs. He backed up his words by accumulating one sack, one forced fumble and zero interceptions in 13 games as the Bills became the first team in NFL history to start the season 4-0 and end dead last in their division. As I remember, the highlight of Whitner’s season came in week three against Oakland, when he tackled Raiders wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins about 10 yards in the end zone. It drew a penalty but allegedly “fired” his teammates up.
And you wonder why the media and most fans got a good chuckle from his publicized complaints earlier this season that opposing teams were laughing at them?
Without question though, the biggest mind bender is his belief that he’s worth top safety money as he gets ready to enter free agency. While Nix confessed last year to not being the smartest man in the room, he also showed he’s not the dumbest either when he said without actually saying “not a chance.”
The Bills will be no better… nor worse if they plug Wilson or Scott into Whitner’s starting role once he aborts for good. Perhaps they sign a low key free agent or draft a mid-round rookie to throw into the mix, but the $6-million he expects annually will be (hopefully) spent much better elsewhere.
In true Whitner fashion, he took his gripe public via the media– -the same one he blasts with frequency when he didn’t like the way his contract negotiation was going.
“Things aren’t going the way I want them to go or getting it done,” Whitner told the media in late December. “It might come to me actually hitting the free agent market because we’re far off. We’re far off in dollars. We’re far off in everything. So, that’s what it’s going to be.”
I’ve always given Whitner credit for if nothing else he was always one of the stand-up guys in the locker room; one of the few that wasn’t scared to hold himself or his teammates accountable for loss after frustrating loss. Even that’s out the window now, for his locker room stall was bare to the bone literally down to his nameplate being gone before 9am the morning after the Jets finale for locker room cleanout day.
In the end, that’s all you really needed to know about his chances of returning to Buffalo next season and beyond.
If you think it’s unfair for Whitner to be compared to the game’s elite safeties because of a draft status he couldn’t control, perhaps he should stop talking as if he matters like Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.
Top five safety money? Really?
Good riddance… and good luck to the fans that deal with his promises and ramblings at the next destination.
It’s a poorly kept secret Bills general manager Buddy Nix along with the majority of the team’s fans think Whitner is certifiably insane for publicly stating he wants top-five safety money with his next contract. Therefore, Whitner has seen and heard plenty of chatter wishing him a farewell en route to his next destination—whenever free agency begins.
Whitner’s comments via his Twitter Sunday aren’t likely to land him any new supporters on a return to the team.
“mornin’ message to Buffalo Bills fans… Be careful what you wish for!… Good day.” Whitner tweeted.
Clearly he acknowledges other than a miniscule percentage of Bills backers, most have long ago been ready for Whitner to take his talents elsewhere.
Well, maybe he doesn’t quite get it after all.
“A lot of what I do/did kept our ENTIRE secondary together.” Whitner later added.
That’s where the delusional portion of his mindset regularly kicks in. This is a guy who started for five years, played in 69 games and accumulated five interceptions, two sack and three forced fumbles— in FIVE SEASONS!
And don’t counter by questioning how can he make plays when the front seven is atrocious theory. George Wilson has more picks over his last two season (six) than Whitner has in his five-year career, and with far less playing time. Wilson also has more sacks. To make matters worse, Bryan Scott has made more impact plays with less playing time than Wilson let alone Whitner. Scott has six sacks in his three years in Buffalo and had three tackles for losses in 2010.
Don’t even get me started on Jairus Byrd.
Sure Whitner had a lot of tackles, 140 of them to be exact according to the team’s official statistics. Guess how many of those tackles went for losses behind the line of scrimmage? That would be all of one. Plus, receiving tight ends salivated at the opportunity to get to know Whitner better for about three or so hours every Sunday. How much of his tackle total was padded by bringing down pass catchers after they beat him for a reception down the field for a first down?
Some think I’ve had a personal agenda against Whitner, which is utterly false, although he did “block” me from Twitter after seeing and apparently not appreciating my timeline. I’m not paid to like or dislike football players, plus I doubt any of you care about my personal feelings. Simply put, it’s almost unfathomable how Whitner continues to say much when he’s done so little.
To me he’s the equivalent of a cornerback celebrating after a pass breakup— despite the fact it’s the fourth quarter and he’s been torched for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2008 Whitner publicly embarrassed the organization after guaranteeing the Bills would make the playoffs. He backed up his words by accumulating one sack, one forced fumble and zero interceptions in 13 games as the Bills became the first team in NFL history to start the season 4-0 and end dead last in their division. As I remember, the highlight of Whitner’s season came in week three against Oakland, when he tackled Raiders wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins about 10 yards in the end zone. It drew a penalty but allegedly “fired” his teammates up.
And you wonder why the media and most fans got a good chuckle from his publicized complaints earlier this season that opposing teams were laughing at them?
Without question though, the biggest mind bender is his belief that he’s worth top safety money as he gets ready to enter free agency. While Nix confessed last year to not being the smartest man in the room, he also showed he’s not the dumbest either when he said without actually saying “not a chance.”
The Bills will be no better… nor worse if they plug Wilson or Scott into Whitner’s starting role once he aborts for good. Perhaps they sign a low key free agent or draft a mid-round rookie to throw into the mix, but the $6-million he expects annually will be (hopefully) spent much better elsewhere.
In true Whitner fashion, he took his gripe public via the media– -the same one he blasts with frequency when he didn’t like the way his contract negotiation was going.
“Things aren’t going the way I want them to go or getting it done,” Whitner told the media in late December. “It might come to me actually hitting the free agent market because we’re far off. We’re far off in dollars. We’re far off in everything. So, that’s what it’s going to be.”
I’ve always given Whitner credit for if nothing else he was always one of the stand-up guys in the locker room; one of the few that wasn’t scared to hold himself or his teammates accountable for loss after frustrating loss. Even that’s out the window now, for his locker room stall was bare to the bone literally down to his nameplate being gone before 9am the morning after the Jets finale for locker room cleanout day.
In the end, that’s all you really needed to know about his chances of returning to Buffalo next season and beyond.
If you think it’s unfair for Whitner to be compared to the game’s elite safeties because of a draft status he couldn’t control, perhaps he should stop talking as if he matters like Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.
Top five safety money? Really?
Good riddance… and good luck to the fans that deal with his promises and ramblings at the next destination.
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