Dec 9, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers strong safety Donte Whitner (31) tackles Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush (22) during the third quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

With the San Francisco 49ers representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, many of the players have benefited greatly. Whether it is guest appearances or numerous sponsorships, the 49ers have seen a spike of cameo appearances as of late, and NFL Network is no different. Below is an exclusive interview with 49ers SS Donte Whitner.

When asked why he was dressed up in a suit on this casual Friday, Whitner said:

My mom always told me to represent myself with a suit on TV.

Great job Deborah. (Donte’s Mom)

When asked by who was the most surprising free-agent still on the market, Whitner said:

I would have to say Charles Woodson. So many years he’s made so many plays. He’s a little bit up there in age right now, but before he got hurt last year, he was still making the same type of plays. Probably a limited role, somewhere in the nickel back, dime back, where he likes to blitz, and get him in the box. I believe he can still contribute to a team and help them win, so probably Charles Woodson.

On current free-agent CB Antoine Winfield:

A guy I looked up to going into Ohio State University. A guy who continues to get better every year. He’s up there in age also, but he’s a linebacker playing the corner position, he will hit you. And I’m surprised he’s not signed with a team yet.

On Adrian Peterson’s comments to NFL rule change of removing the lowering the helmet for ball-carriers: “Sooner or later we’re going to be playing touch football. I’ll be more comfortable with it if they just spread the love and bring that over to the defensive side and make sure when those guys come in to attack us that they’ve got their head up and face mask showing as well. And anytime that they have their helmet down, they get flagged just like they are putting on us. I’ll be satisfied if they do it that way.”

I do agree…Football is meant to be rough and tough…we all know what we signed up for. We know the precautions, we know what’s going to happen from playing this game. Just because I’m not a running back, I don’t want to see the running backs not being able to lower their shoulder. It’s part of the game, big hits are part of the game, running somebody over is part of the game.

 On losing the Super Bowl:

We felt we had a great opportunity to win that game. Me personally, I haven’t done anything since we lost. I took two weeks off and back training ever since. I know Kaep took one week off, went down to Atlanta to be training. We understand it’s going to take small steps to get to where we want to go. And we had a taste of it, the last two years and third year’s the charm. We feel we’re going to go and get it this year.

 On losing FS Dashon Goldson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Well we brought in Nnamdi Asomugha. We all know what position he’s going to play at. We brought in Craig Dahl, I havent really seen him play but from what I hear he’s very smart and intelligent guy, that really works hard. And that’s all that Vic Vangio needs in his system, a guy that knows his system, that’s willing to do things that asked of him to do and go out there and do them.

On the 49ers defense being one of the best:

We feel like we are the best in the National Football League.

On the signing of CB Nnamdi Asomugha:

He has a chip on his shoulder. And he’ll come in and work, and he’ll show that he’s one of the top cornerbacks in the National Football League.

 

Credit: Ed Szczepanski-US PRESSWIRE

San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner talked on Monday about his jarring hit on New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas and how each day he is asked about it.  Whitner gets so much attention now because of the hit that he tried taking class at San Jose State in the offseason to finish his degree in business and consumer affairs, but had to start taking online courses because people kept bugging him about the hit.  When discussing the hit that knocked out Thomas, Whitner could not hold back his thoughts on the Saints bounty scandal, saying,

If you have the right type of guys in that room, you don’t have to set bounties or pay money for guys to play physical and play hard. It’s going to come naturally. That’s the type of guys we have on our defense. That’s why we don’t have to do those type of things.

Saints starting linebacker Scott Shanle, who has played in New Orleans since 2006, took issue with Whitner’s comments and took to Twitter to express his discontent.  Shanle wrote on Twitter,

Guy needs to shut his mouth and mind his own business. Don’t remember them winning the superbowl. U still ringless. We got one and working on two now. Try to keep up.

This started off a Twitter war of words not between Shanle and Whitner, but between the Saints linebacker and 49ers fans.  Here are some highlights,

@ericloera wrote,

WTF Scott…first off we got 5 superbowls..so i don’t know what the (expletive) your talking about….so keep up sucka..scrub

Shanle responded,

this century?

@NinerNiral tweeted back,

Your precious ring has an asterisk by it because of the bounty scandal. You guys put cheap shots on Favre all game long.

Shanle hit back with,

no it doesn’t see no asterisk! (The tweet included this picture of the bird.  No, not the Twitter bird but of the flipping off variety.)

In the end Shanle tweeted,

Alright 49ers fans its been fun but I got 2 get back 2 work. That’s something we do in Louisiana so our state isn’t bankrupt. Im outta here.

Social media has no many positives in our world, but also just as many negatives.  I would file this one under positive because it is a hilarious and witty exchange between Shanle and Niner fans.  Shanle’s last tweet about California being bankrupt is priceless because it is true.  Three cities in California (San Bernardino, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes) have all filed for bankruptcy in the last month.

Apparently, the hit from Whitner on Thomas is still a “sore subject” with Saints fans.  We expected that, but now we know with Shanle’s reaction to Whitner’s and Niner fans comments it is still a sore subject with Saints players.  Ask a Saints fan and they will say it was a cheap, helmet-to-helmet hit from Whitner that knocked Thomas out of the game.  The hit on Thomas stopped the Saints opening drive and turned the momentum towards the 49ers early on in the game.

For all of the big hits Saints defensive players handed out during the course of their bounty hunting days, it’s funny that it wasn’t a Saints player who laid out the most memorable hit of the NFC Divisional Playoff game, but it was a 49ers player delivering the hit that changed the game.

In case you forgot or live under a rock, Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for implementing a bounty system which awarded money for knocking out a player from the opposing team for the game.  During the week of the 49ers vs. Saints playoff game, Williams was recorded instructing his defensive players to target specific areas of the body on 49ers offensive players.

The 49ers will travel to New Orleans this season on November 25 to play the Saints.  There was already a big, red circle around the game on the 49ers Faithful and Who Dat Nation calendars.  Now, there are a lot more circles and the ink is turning crimson red.

Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

49ers safety Donte Whitner voiced his opinion on the 2011 season and playoffs on the NFL Network’s NFL Total Access show on Tuesday.  You can place the quote under the could’ve, would’ve, should’ve category:

“We came up short. We felt like we had an opportunity to beat the Giants. We felt like we matched up well with the Patriots, and the Giants go home with the trophy. … I feel like we would have beat the Patriots.”

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say most, if not all, Niner fans felt the same way about the 49ers chances in the Super Bowl against the Patriots.  Also in the interview Whitner said he would have had two interceptions in the NFC Championship game, if not for the rain-soaked field that caused issues with footing on Candlesticks infamous field.  The two interceptions sure would have helped.

Another intriguing line in the interview is Whitner talking about the Kyle Williams fumble, which has become the 49ers’ version of Bill Buckner: (click on the link below to watch the interview)

“It’s very tough. Especially when you come into training camp, and you set a goal, and your goal is to reach the Super Bowl and win that trophy. And you’re a few plays away from making it to your ultimate goal, it’s tough when you come up short. And you feel like, you know, it was a routine play (Williams’ turnover) — you catch it, you don’t fumble it. You know, but we do, and we lose the game, and our dream of going to the Super Bowl is gone with one play after all the work we put in all year. So it’s tough.”

Watch Donte Whitner on NFL Total Access