Always new you were the type of man that would recognize someone for their good along with their mediocre and average. You the man Joe P. You the man. Huge season this year for Donte, heard it here first.

It’s funny how such a smart guy can do some really stupid things sometimes. I think Whitner just tries too hard to be a leader, especially since he hasn’t been a big play guy on the football field. We’re definitely too hard on the guy sometimes.

Maybe he tries really hard to lead because there has been a lack of leadership (which I doubt considering the defense has been veteran filled since he got here). Maybe it’s because he feels like he needs to live up to his top 10 draft pick. Maybe he’s trying to compensate for the lack of big plays or average play on the field in general. Maybe he’s simply got illusions of grandeur. Ask him a question about a situation like Marshawn and he answers like a seasoned pro. Ask him if he’ll have a big year, or how good player X on the roster is and he’ll show his age. But after thinking about Whitner some, I think a lot of his stupid comments come from trying too hard to be a leader.

He is really optimistic to the point of being naive at times and he’s responsive and sensitive to criticism.
Unfortunately that generally leads to saying really exciting and wonderful things and then not being able to back them up and then suffering from the backlash and then not knowing how to respond to the backlash. I think that’s why he’s posted about being depressed on his facebook, left and returned to both facebook and twitter, and even has called out Brian Galliford (not kidding) for something he felt was critical of him.

As for football stuff, I think Donte made some improvements this last year from the year before and I have high hope that he will continue to improve and perhaps make good on some of what he said.