Background
Whitner was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
Whitner was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
He attended Glenville High School in Cleveland. He attended Ohio State, not finishing his degree, and then enrolling at San Jose State University.
He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills eighth overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Ohio State. Whitner has also played for the San Francisco 49ers.
He is the older brother of former Connecticut Huskies defensive end Lindsey Witten.
After his senior high school football season he was invited to the United States. Army All-American Bowl game. When Whitner was six years old he was hit by an oncoming car after chasing a loose football down the street.
He had up to 30 fractures in his legs from the impact and was told that he might not be able to walk again. The oncoming car suffered significant body damage.
He spent three months in a full body cast but recovered.
Buffalo Bills
Whitner was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. In his first career game, he recorded his first career interception against Tom Brady. The ruling on the field was a touchdown, but was later overruled when replay showed that Whitner had stepped out of bounds.
He finished 2006 with 104 total tackles and one interception for 10 yards.
In 2009, Whitner recorded his first career touchdown on a 76-yard interception return from Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Byron Leftwich in Week 2. His most productive game to date was in Week 12 of the 2010 season, where he recorded 18 total tackles against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
San Francisco 49ers
On August 4, 2011, Whitner signed with the San Francisco 49ers. After previously announcing on Twitter that he would be going to the Cincinnati Bengals, he changed his mind and signed with San Francisco.
He agreed to a three-year, $11.75 million deal with $4 million guaranteed.
The hit forced a fumble recovered by the 49ers and took Thomas out for the rest of the game. In 2013, in a game against the Saint Louis Rams, Whitner was fined for a hit on receiver Chris Givens. In response to the fine, he indicated that he would be legally changing his last name from "Whitner" to "Hitner", dropping the "West" from his surname.
In an appearance on NFL Network"s "NFL Total Access" on November 27, 2013, Whitner indicated that his request was to be processed on November 19, but had to be withdrawn when he was unable to honor the judge"s requirement that he appear in court.
During the same interview, Whitner indicated that he would pursue his name change during the offseason. Cleveland Browns
Whitner signed a four-year deal worth $28 million with the Cleveland Browns on March 11, 2014.
NFL stats
Key
General Practice: games played
COMB: combined tackles
TOTAL: total tackles
Air Service Training: assisted tackles
SACK: sacks
FF: forced fumbles
First Revision: fumble recoveries
First Revision YDS: fumble return yards
INT: interceptions
International Rectifier YDS: interception return yards
AVG International Rectifier : average interception return
Liquefied Natural Gas: longest interception return
Territorial Decoration: interceptions returned for touchdown
Privatdozent : passes defensed.