Foswhitt Jer'ald "Fozzy" Whittaker (born February 2, 1989) is a former

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 wi ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. He played college football at

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. He is from

Pearland, Texas Pearland ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, with portions extending into Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend and Harris County, Texas, Harris counties. The city of Pearland is a principal city ...

Early years

Whittaker attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Pearland High School Pearland High School (PHS) is an American public high school, located in Pearland, Texas, south of Houston. It is one of three high schools in the Pearland Independent School District, and serves parts of Pearland and most of the city of Br ...

College career

Whittaker played college football at the University of Texas from 2008–2011. In the 2008 season, he had 64 carries for 284 rushing yards in seven games. In the 2009 season, he had 53 carries for 212 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in 11 games. In the 2010 season, he had 80 carries for 351 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. In the 2011 season, he had 66 carries for 386 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

On December 18, 2012, Whittaker signed with the Arizona Cardinals to join their practice squad. On March 11, 2013, he was released by the Cardinals.

San Diego Chargers

On March 12, 2013, Whittaker was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Chargers. He made his NFL debut on September 9, 2013, against the Houston Texans. He played in three total games with the Chargers in the 2013 season. On September 28, he was released by the Chargers.

Cleveland Browns

On September 30, 2013, Whittaker was claimed off waivers by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. On October 27, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he scored his first professional touchdown. With the Chargers and Browns in the 2013 season, he had 28 carries for 79 rushing yards to go along with 21 receptions for 155 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. On May 12, 2014, Whittaker was released by the Cleveland Browns.

Carolina Panthers

On July 27, 2014, Whittaker was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

after an injury to Panthers rookie running back Tyler Gaffney that occurred the previous day. After a strong preseason showing, he made the initial 53-man roster, announced on August 30, 2014. In the 2014 regular season, he finished with 32 carries for 145 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with five receptions for 60 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. On January 3, 2015, in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, Whittaker scored a crucial 39-yard, go-ahead receiving touchdown in the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals, helping the Panthers to a 27–16 victory which enabled them to advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs, where the Panthers' season ended in a 31–17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In Whittaker's second year with the team, he had 108 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown as the Panthers finished the season with a franchise-record 15 wins. In the first two rounds of the playoffs, they defeated the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. On February 7, 2016, Whittaker was part of the Panthers team that played in

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. In the game, Whittaker had four carries for 26 yards, one catch for 14 yards, and two tackles on special teams, but the Panthers fell to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

by a score of 24–10. In the 2016 season, Whittaker would appear in all 16 regular season games. He had 57 carries for 265 yards and 25 receptions for 226 yards. On September 18, 2016, Whittaker ran for 100 yards on 16 carries against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

when

Jonathan Stewart Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft ...

left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. On October 2, he caught nine passes for 86 yards against the Atlanta Falcons. On March 8, 2017, Whittaker signed a two-year contract extension. In the 2017 season, he finished with seven carries for 18 rushing yards to go along with five receptions for 47 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. On May 10, 2018, Whittaker suffered a torn ACL during a non-contact drill in the off-season. As a result, he was placed on injured reserve and ruled out for the entire 2018 season.

Personal life

Whittaker was raised by parents Foster Jer'ald Whittaker and Gloria Whittaker. His father died from lymphoma in 1992.

References

External links

Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Foswhitt 1989 births Living people American football running backs Texas Longhorns football players Arizona Cardinals players San Diego Chargers players Cleveland Browns players Carolina Panthers players Players of American football from Houston Pearland High School alumni