Donte would later release a statement through his agent, Neil Cornrich, saying it was not how he wises to conduct himself and apologized to all those involved. The Bills released a similarly generic statement saying they were aware of the incident but had no comment until they had all the facts. As Donte was walking out of jail, however, he further proclaimed his innocence and said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Cleveland police department because the stun gun episode was “absolutely not” necessary.

The incident sounds like a whole lot of nothing. Knowing Donte as I do, I can say he’s a really good guy. I haven’t met a nicer player to talk to and I know his image as a positive role model to young people is important to him. He’s very active in the Buffalo community and he’s one of the NFL’s top United Way spokesmen along with Santana Moss (Redskins) and Bob Sanders (Colts). But this just goes to show how, as an NFL player, you really can’t go out to a nightclub without a good deal of risk. As innocent as the whole event probably was, it’s always about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And not putting yourself in a position to have something like this happen. Ted Ginn Jr.’s birthday party should not have been held at a public place like this. It’s really just poor judgment for everyone involved.

Source: 19ActionNews.com, Photo: Newscom

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Donte Whitner Arrested, Released

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards continues to impress. Coming off a scary concussion that forced him out of the Bills only loss (to the Arizona Cardinals) two weeks ago, Trent returned after a bye week to break the Bills franchise record for completion percentage (his 83.3 broke Hall of Famer Jim Kelly’s 82.2) in an impressive 23-14 win over the San Diego Chargers yesterday. But it’s not a rocket arm — nor is it being fleet afoot — that has made Trent one of the NFL’s top-rated QBs so far this season. It’s his intelligence, decision-making and accuracy. Bills safety Donte Whitner is among the players that recognizes that:

“You have guys like Peyton Manning. You have guys like Tom Brady and these good quarterbacks all around the league. I think it’s time to start mentioning Trent Edwards as one of those good quarterbacks.”

One thing’s for sure. He’s pretty darn close. Just for the record (and because I love stats), Trent is second in the entire NFL in completion percentage and 4th overall in quarterback rating. He’s taking Bills fans back to their glory years and giving them every reason to Bill-ieve this team is playoff-bound.

Source: NFL.com, Photo: Newscom

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Trent Edwards Among NFL’s Best

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner is on a mission to aid underprivileged youth in effort to enrich, educate, and encourage families in impoverished communities. Donte lives united through his Team20 Foundation. He hosted a Youth Football Mini-Camp to teach kids the values of sportsmanship, leadership and teamwork — on and off the field. His Annual Charity Cancer Strike Bowling Tournament was started as a result of his grandmother being diagnosed with lung cancer. She is now in remission and co-hosts the event to raise funds for families who have a loved one affected by cancer.

“Growing up I always knew that I wanted to remain connected in my community. Being raised in a single-parent home in the inner city of Cleveland showed me the importance of family and education. Without either I would not be the man I am today.”

As a result, Donte honors single parents for their struggles, strength, and sacrifice through the Single Mother’s Spa Day and Do Right Dads initiatives. Donte created Whitner’s Read to Win program and the Impact Plays, Impact Families program. He also joined forces with the Gloria Pointer Teen Initiative Movement in Ghana, West Africa to help build a school for children in need.

For 35 years, United Way and the National Football League and its teams have been working together to help strengthen America’s communities. Today, the NFL and United Way are leveraging resources and relationships to raise awareness about the importance of youth health and fitness and create opportunities for kids to live healthier lifestyles. It’s part of United Way’s 10-year goal to increase by one third the number of youth who are healthy and avoid risky behavior. United Way is proud to partner with the NFL and we incite you to join us. You can help support youth fitness by volunteering your time, lending your voice or contributing to youth fitness programs.

See also – Live United: Santana Moss, Live United: Bob Sanders

Source: LiveUnited.org, Photo: United Way

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Live United: Donte Whitner

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Last weekend I spoke about the Buffalo Bills being “for real” in a hard fought win at Jacksonville. And I spoke of second year quarterback Trent Edwards “coming of age” as he led the Bills on a late scoring drive to take that game. In this afternoon’s come-from-behind 24-23 win over the Oakland Raiders, there was affirmation. And for everyone in Buffalo, it’s time to “Billieve.” The Buffalo Bills are 3-0 for the first time since 1992.

I can say the Bills won in spite of themselves. They turned the ball over three times — not a recipe for success in the National Football League. But they persevered. Safety Donte Whitner knows why:

“You have to stay mentally tough. That’s the difference between this year’s team and the past two years. There’s nothing different with the physical and not much different with the personnel except for a couple of new acquisitions. It’s the mental side of it. When things start getting hard we have the mental toughness to know we can still pull this thing off.”

The things they did well outweighed the things they did poorly. Buffalo only committed four penalties for 25 yards. The defense held a team under 100 yards rushing again. And the offense controlled the clock (34:27) and amassed 378 yards. But it was Trent Edwards’ resolve that led the Bills to this win.

Make no mistake, players need to block and catch and tackle. And they did. It is, after all, a team game. And the Bills understand the team concept very well. But as Trent Edwards goes, so will go this football team. And when the game was on the line, he responded by going 14-of-19 for 182 yards and a touchdown in the 4th quarter. I don’t want to put the kid up on a pedestal just yet, but it was the fourth time in 12 career starts that he rallied the Bills back when trailing or tied in the fourth quarter. Impressive. A sign of greatness? It just might be. More time will tell.

Source: BuffaloBills.com, Photo: Newscom

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Trent Edwards Leads Buffalo Bills

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL

Less than 24 hours before the the Buffalo Bills open their 2008 training camp in Rochester, NY, the team agreed to terms with rookie wide receiver James Hardy today. This is significant because not only do I feel James will be a integral part of the 2008 Buffalo Bills, I believe he’ll make an impact as one of the best rookies to enter the National Football League this season. Naturally, head coach Dick Jauron likes what James brings to the team:

“Having a big receiver helps us. You can cover him and he can still be open. He can out-reach defenders for the ball. He can out-jump defenders for the ball in the red zone. In my opinion, very seldom does the jump ball occur except in the red zone, but reach is a big thing in our game and he’s got reach.”

Rarely does a rookie wide receiver make a big splash (it’s more likely in year three if it’s going to happen at all), but I feel James has the potential to be one of those players — a superstar at this level in his first year. At 6′5″ he seems to tower over most defensive backs. That, in part, makes his red zone potential otherworldly. Plus, James has a great chance to start opposite WR Lee Evans, so he’ll have plenty of opportunities to make catches all over the field. And take this into consideration. James has been mentored by Bills safety Donte Whitner (one of my favorite players), so his NFL learning curve won’t be quite as steep as most rookies. I think his success will be immediate.

Source: BuffaloBills.com, Photo: Newscom

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

James Hardy Signs With Buffalo Bills

Blogcasting the National Football League, Blogcasting the NFL

Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner has not only been preparing himself for the 2008 football season, he’s been mentoring incoming rookie defensive back Leodis McKelvin as well. Entering just his third NFL season, Donte has already come to be known as a team leader by Bills head coach Dick Jauron. Safeties are known for being leaders in the defensive secondary and Donte has not taken his role lightly. In offseason workouts, he took Leodis (Buffalo’s first-round Draft choice this year) under his wing to ease his NFL transition. Donte even offered his home as a place for Leodis to stay until he finds his own pad in Buffalo:

“When I came into the NFL two years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. Leodis is a rookie in a similar situation that I was in. I know what he’s going through, so I want to help him get through the process as quick and as painless as possible.”

This doesn’t surprise me. When I spoke with Donte after the Bills’ final home game against the eventual Super Bowl champion N.Y. Giants last season, he talked at length about his concerns and hopes for the future of his team. In fact, we were the final two people in the locker room after the game. This was common for Donte. All season, he would stay and talk for as long as anyone wanted to speak with him — win or lose. I’ve interviewed Donte three times now and it’s obvious to me that he has a passion and commitment for the game unlike any other player I’ve seen. I mean, I know there are a lot of dedicated players like Donte, but you will not find anyone who is more dedicated. His presence with the Buffalo Bills only makes them a better team.

Source: BuffaloBills.com

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Donte Whitner Mentoring Leodis McKelvin

Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner is old school. In fact, he’s one of the most passionate football players I’ve ever seen. Give me 11 Donte Whitner’s on the field at the same time and you’ll win a lot of football games. The guy pours his heart into his work and is a perfect leader on a team that thrives on desire. After a stinging loss to the N.Y. Giants, I spent some time with Donte in the locker room postgame to wrap the season and discuss the team’s future.

Shownotes: David Kindervater (host), Donte Whitner (NFL player guest)

• 0:28 – Bills will be tough to beat if they play smart and hard
• 2:49 – Team needs to build consistency and find a killer instinct
• 3:19 – Cleveland loss was in the past, this game was a letdown
• 4:20 – Bills need to play hard on every snap of every game
• 4:55 – Seeing Kevin Everett before the game, a miracle walking
• 6:04 – Players must realize everything they do affects this football team
• 7:20 – Despite his young age, Donte is expected to be a team leader
• 8:55 – The rollercoaster that was the 2007 Buffalo Bills season

Sponsor: ColdGear ArmourFleece Big Logo Hood
Links: BuffaloBills.com, NFL.com

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Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

BPR Home Team Edition Donte Whitner

Cincinnati Bengals QB Carson Palmer, WRs Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh, and RB Rudi Johnson make up one of the NFL’s most feared offensive machines. All the Buffalo Bills did in a 33-21 victory today was shut them down, giving up just 14 of those 21 points and only allowing 28 rushing yards. I spoke with Bills hard-hitting safety Donte Whitner about the big win.

DAVID: Donte, Coach Jauron talked about stacking wins this week and with this one, you get your third straight. After the 0-3 start, to find yourself at .500 is just outstanding.

DONTE: It’s very good to get back to .500. The confidence is high in this locker room. The confidence is high with the coaches and the players. We’re starting to feel good about ourselves and we’re starting to realize that we are a good football team. And now we have to go out there and prepare and play like it every week. For all of us, it makes us realize what we really have here. We have a good football team that is gonna make that playoff push.

DAVID: What adjustments did you make after the Bengals first offensive possession because they went right down the field and it was a much different ball game after that.

DONTE: I don’t know what it is — that first drive in football games. Our first drives are kind of slow and then we start to pick it up. That’s something we’re going to have to work on in practice. Coming out, if it’s more blitzes on the first drive or whatever, we just gotta get guys going faster.

DAVID: I think your defense really made a statement to hold that high-powered offense down the way you did. That’s a good offense with exceptional players.

DONTE: Well, we want to earn some respect. Nobody’s giving us any respect and everybody’s looking at stats and everything else and what guys are saying. We’re just gonna let our play do the talking and then we’ll earn that respect. We’re gonna play hard and every team that comes in here is gonna realize that this team plays hard. So we want everyone to know that we’re gonna play hard and we’re gonna play until the last seconds tick off the clock.

DAVID: Well, Donte you talk about stats. The Bills are near the bottom of the NFL in yards allowed, but the real stat that matters is points allowed and it’s a completely different story there as you are up there with the league’s best teams in that category.

DONTE: The rest of the stats really don’t mean anything. How many points you score and how many points you give up ultimately decides football games. I’ve never seen a team win a football game by rushing for 300 yards or passing for 500 yards. Those numbers alone don’t win football games. Points win the football game. You can have 1,000 yards and six points and you’re not going to win. We really care about those points. We don’t want to give up those points. We might bend a little bit, but we’re not gonna break. That’s how we want to do it.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Interview: Buffalo Bills S Donte Whitner