Donte Whitner Is a Role Model

(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Donte Whitner is a human being. Sometimes that is forgotten when a figure is so prominently displayed in the media. He made a mistake and is facing the repercussions.

This article does not condone Donte Whitner's actions on the night he was arrested for resisting arrest and aggravated disorderly conduct, but rather details why this was a mistake in judgment by an otherwise venerable professional athlete.

Donte Whitner was not arrested for a hit and run, gun possession, drug possession, vehicular manslaughter, or even drunk driving. Yet he is still grouped with the players in the NFL who are arrested for these more serious violations.

The favorite new statistic by news media outlets is an arrest count for the NFL. Some prominent NFL websites, such as www.profootballtalk.com, even have a count that measures how many days the NFL has gone without an arrest.

As a result of this hyped arrest count, players in the NFL who are arrested for minor, albeit meaningful, reasons are unfairly placed on the same pedestal as the more serious offenders. 

Any player who ends up with an arrest is just lumped into the "bad egg" group of players and is quickly bastardized by the media.

Such views are taken as, "they shouldn't be out partying" and "they know the trouble they are putting themselves in." 

This is true for the few players who carry fully loaded and unregistered handguns (Plaxico Burress) or players who bring a posse of thugs around (Adam "Pacman" Jones), to name a few, but is an unfair assessment for all players who are arrested. 

Players should be afforded the same right as any one of us to attend a bar or go to a club. There is not a high probability of an incident occurring when going to a bar or club. This just seems to be the case because it's common to hear of these few instances.

The fact is that many players go out on the town frequently and never get into any trouble.

The Buffalo Bills have been on media display ever since the acquisition of Terrell Owens. They have had three recent arrests heavily covered by the sports media and are even being labeled by some as "the new Cincinnati Bengals" (the top offender in recent years for arrests).

The media will never show the upside of a player, only the downside, because that is what gets them ratings. 

A player's character should not be judged by what mistake he has made but rather by what he has done in his role as an athlete to improve the lives of others. 

Donte Whitner is the perfect example of an athlete with strong moral fiber of which can be role-modeled.

Donte has not had an easy life by any means. He was born and raised on the east side of Cleveland in a much less fortunate area than what many of us were raised in. 

At the age of four, Donte was nearly killed after being hit by a car while crossing the road. As a result, he spent four months in a body cast and was even told by doctors that he may never walk again because of the extensive injuries to his legs. 

As if that were not enough to overcome, at the age of 12, Donte's father was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison. This left Donte to be raised by a single mother, and he needed to grow up much faster than those his age.

As hard as life was, Whitner just used his hardship as motivation. Donte went on to graduate early from high school and was accepted into Ohio State University. 

At Ohio State, Donte excelled both on and off the field and decided to enter the NFL draft as a junior. He would be drafted eighth overall by the Buffalo Bills in a move that was labeled by many as a stretch; once again, this was just more motivation to Donte.

Whitner has gone on to become a defensive leader on the field and in the locker room. He has been a starter for the Bills since being drafted and has lived up to the role given to him by his first round selection.

But this is not what truly shows Donte's character.

Donte has used his role as a professional athlete to start his own charitable foundation, Team 20. 

The mission statement of Team 20 states, "Our mission at Team 20 is to enrich and encourage families in impoverished communities by using education as a tool to raise awareness." 

It is through this foundation that Donte Whitner has made a name for himself in the Buffalo and Cleveland areas.

Here are some of the notable events held or participated in by the Team 20 foundation.

Annual Cancer Strike Charity Bowling Tournament

Started by Whitner after his grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer. More recently he added Osteosarcoma research as a benefactor after meeting a young boy named Malcolm Hills Jr. who has the cancer that affects mainly children. This meeting can be seen here.

Annual Youth Football Mini-Camp

Donating School Supplies to schools in Buffalo, Cleveland, and Ghana, West Africa

Retreats for single Mothers/Fathers

Stop the Violence Tour

Camp Team 20

Read to Achieve

Impact Plays

Impact Families

Thanksgiving Turkey Give-A-Way seen here

Partnership with the United Way seen here

A role model to me is any person in a position where they can affect others by their actions. I would definitely consider Donte's actions worthy of repetition by children or fans in general. 

The number of lives that have been changed in Donte's short tenure (three years) in the NFL is evidence of this in itself. I put up the videos because they can show people's lives being changed much better than I could ever describe it.

Donte made a mistake and immediately admitted his remorse: "I regret the incident that occurred last evening.... It's not how I wish to conduct myself. And I apologize to all those involved."

Donte's character and goodwill supersedes this mistake. While this error in judgment should not just be forgotten about, one should look at the person as a whole and not just the mistake.

The important thing for Donte is that he learns from his error and continues his amazing work through the Team 20 Foundation.

I look forward to watching Donte both on the field and in the community for years to come, because I feel Donte Whitner is an exceptional athlete and above all else, a role model.

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