BEREA, Ohio -- The Donte Whitner that takes the field as the leader of the secondary for the Cleveland Browns is much different than the one former coach Jim Tressel saw when he welcomed the Glenville High School product to The Ohio State University more than a decade ago, but that is a good thing for everybody concerned.
Tressel has closely followed Whitner's career, and is not too surprised to see how he has gone from the quiet 16-year old high school graduate to the leader of a defense.
"He's a no-nonsense guy," Tressel said while taking in a Browns practice during training camp. "He's a leader. And he didn't say a word in college, didn't say a word. He just looked at them, and everyone scattered. And he was in that film room till 10 at night. He went into his interviews with the pro teams with a notebook on all of our opponents. He and Malcolm (Jenkins) were probably the two most serious DBs we ever had."
According to Whitner, being quiet and taking in the lessons he could from older veterans allowed him to develop into an impact player that made 164 total tackles, had five sacks, collected five interceptions and returned a blocked punt for a touchdown en route to being a first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in the 2006 NFL Draft.
"When I first got to college, a lot of people don't know this, but I graduated high school when I was like 16 years old, so picture going to college at 16 and having to be around the older guys and them not wanting to teach you certain things or show you where your classes are," Whitner said.
"At that point, you just have to be a sponge and learn as much as you possibly can. You don't want to say too much, but you want to ask a bunch of questions. That's the difference between now and then. At that point, I was just a little baby on a team trying to learn my way. Right now, after being 10 years in the National Football League, pretty much (I'm) a leader on this football team, so that's the difference."
Whitner takes his role as a leader very seriously, and not just with defensive players and his current teammates.
Going to Glenville High School in a rough neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Whitner was one of the first Tarblooders to make it down to Ohio State and use football as a vehicle to not only get to the NFL, but also, get an education to serve him well in his post-playing career.
And that was why Whitner took every opportunity he could to help former Tarblooders like wide receiver Shane Wynn, who spent training camp with the Browns.
"Mostly, it's me getting on him though because he's still a rookie," Whitner said. "Even though he went to my high school and everything, I still have to be hard on him, can't really joke around with him too much. I understand he has things that he has to focus on and he has to make this football team, so if I see him drop a punt, I'm going to scream something to him.
"If I see him drop a pass, I'm going to do the same thing. It's more so just a tough love type of thing because I want to see him succeed. Even if he doesn't make this football team, I want him to make some football team around the National Football League, and that's why I have to show him tough love.
"It's not in a demeaning way. It's in a way to where you want to get guys motivated on a day-to-day basis. I know that just saying something silly sometimes really will stick to a guy's head when he's in the weight room or he's out here on the football field. It might give him that added motivation that it takes for all of us to get over the hump. That's why I do it."
