James Lavell Whitley (born May 13, 1979) 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 with ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He played professional football in the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, NFL, and

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

from 2001 to 2008.

Early life and college career

Born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

, Whitley attended

Norview High School Norview High School is a public high school in central Norfolk, Virginia. Norview High School is one of the five local high schools that serve the city. It is home of the Dodson Scholars Program and the Leadership Center for Science and Enginee ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. At Norview, Whitley started at both quarterback and cornerback; he made the ''USA Today'' All-USA second-team as a senior in 1996. Whitley played

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1997 to 2000. As a freshman, he played for the undefeated

1997 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conferen ...

that defeated Washington State in the

1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21� ...

to win a national championship. In December 2000, he was dismissed from the team following an arrest for carrying a concealed weapon. During his four years as a player for Michigan, Whitley had 187 tackles including 13 for loss, six interceptions, five sacks, and 21 punt returns for 172 yards.

Pro football career

After not being selected in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, Whitley signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

in 2001. He played in 14 games with five starts and made 27 tackles, one fumble recovery, one sack, and four special teams tackles. On February 26, 2002, Whitley signed as a free agent with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. In the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Whitley played in 16 games with one start for the Rams with 32 tackles, four passes defended, and a fumble recovery. During a 2003 off season mini-camp, Whitley injured his right foot and was on injured reserve early in the season. The Rams released Whitley on December 2, 2003. Whitley signed with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

as a free agent on December 10, 2003. Whitley played in the Packers' final three regular season games and both playoff games primarily on special teams. After playing in six games in 2004, he was waived by the Packers in October. He signed in November 2004 with 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. T ...

. However, he did not appear in any games for the Panthers. In 2005, Whitley returned to the Alouettes, making 22 tackles and one interception in nine games. He later played in three games for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the CFL, making nine tackles. From 2007 to 2008, Whitley played for the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He had 44 tackles, eight passes defended, a fumble recovery, and an interception in two seasons.

Post-football life

2022, Whitley has relocated back to Virginia. Working to develop his New brand NineseveN and foundation, GlorYoUs Foundation geared towards helping the community with resources for food, shelter, education & mentorship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, James 1979 births Michigan Wolverines football players St. Louis Rams players Green Bay Packers players Georgia Force players Players of American football from Norfolk, Virginia Living people American football defensive backs Montreal Alouettes players BC Lions players Players of Canadian football from Norfolk, Virginia