Cody Michael Whitehair (born July 11, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

High school career

A native of

Abilene, Kansas Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the G ...

, Whitehair attended Abilene High School, where he was a two-way lineman for the Cowboys football varsity. In his senior year, he was named to PrepStar magazine’s All-Midlands Region team after being credited with 140 pancake blocks and 81 total tackles (41 solo, 40 assisted) with 15 sacks on the season, as Abilene finished 10–1 after losing to Buhler in the second round of the

KSHSAA The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors ...

4A state playoffs.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Kansas State in 2011, Whitehair became a starter at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

in 2012 and 2013. Prior to his junior year in 2014, he moved to

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

, where he started as a junior and senior.

Professional career

Whitehair was selected in the second round, 56th overall by the

in the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. After a season-ending injury to 2015 third round pick

Hroniss Grasu Hroniss Grasu ( ; born August 12, 1991) is an American football center for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Oregon, and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third rou ...

in training camp, Whitehair started at left guard during the preseason. Whitehair was then moved to the starting center position after the team signed veteran guard

Josh Sitton Josh James Sitton ( ; born June 16, 1986) is a former American football guard. He played college football at the University of Central Florida and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He made four P ...

. He went on to start all 16 games at center and was named to the

PFWA All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. T ...

. In 2018, Whitehair played every offensive snap and was named to the

2019 Pro Bowl The 2019 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2018 NFL season, played on January 27, 2019, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It was televised nationally by ESPN and its sister networks. Game format The 201 ...

, becoming the first Bears center since

Olin Kreutz Olin George Kreutz (; born June 9, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons. He played college football for University of Washington, and earned consensu ...

to play in the

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

. He was the only Bears player on either side of the ball to participate in every down. Before the 2019 season, Whitehair moved to left guard, while that position's starter,

James Daniels James Daniels (born September 13, 1997) is an American football guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Iowa. Early years Daniels attended Harding High School in Warren, Ohio an ...

, shifted to center. On September 1, Whitehair signed a five-year contract extension worth $52.5 million with $27.5 million guaranteed. In November, with the offense struggling in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Whitehair returned to center. Whitehair was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 6, 2020, and activated on November 16. In 2022, Whitehair suffered a knee injury in Week 4 and was placed on injured reserve on October 5, 2022. He was activated on November 4.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioKansas State Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehair, Cody 1992 births Living people American football centers American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Chicago Bears players Kansas State Wildcats football players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Abilene, Kansas People from Kearney, Nebraska Players of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Nebraska