Jermaine Rasheed Whitehead (born March 12, 1993) 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 ...

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. 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 ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, and was signed by 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2015. He was also a member of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

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 ...

, and

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 ( ...

College career

Whitehead attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, where he played on the

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...

team from 2011 to 2014.

College statistics

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

After going undrafted in the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

, Whitehead signed with the

on May 5, 2015. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the 49ers during final team cuts. Whitehead was signed to the 49ers'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the following day.

Baltimore Ravens

On December 23, 2015, the

signed Whitehead off the 49ers' practice squad. He was inactive for the last two games of the season. On April 19, 2016, Whitehead was re-signed by the Ravens. He was released by the Ravens on May 13, 2016.

Green Bay Packers

Whitehead was signed by the

on May 18, 2016. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Packers during final team cuts and was signed to the practice squad the next day. On October 24, 2016, he was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. Whitehead made his NFL debut against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in Week 8. On November 7, 2016, he was released by the Packers and was re-signed back to the practice squad. He signed a futures contract with the Packers on January 24, 2017. On September 2, 2017, Whitehead was waived by the Packers and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on October 21, 2017. Whitehead was re-signed on March 14, 2018. In Week 9 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, Whitehead was ejected after slapping center David Andrews in the

face mask The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human Personal identity, identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental d ...

. He was then released by the Packers on November 6, 2018.

Cleveland Browns

On November 7, 2018, Whitehead was claimed off waivers by the

. On September 29, 2019, he had his first NFL career

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

and forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

in a game against the Ravens. Whitehead was waived on November 4, 2019 after posting "several threatening and racist messages for people who criticized him" following the team's loss 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 headquart ...

, a game in which he missed a number of crucial

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

. Whitehead later apologized for the messages.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Jermaine 1993 births Living people Players of American football from Mississippi Sportspeople from Greenwood, Mississippi American football safeties Auburn Tigers football players San Francisco 49ers players Baltimore Ravens players Green Bay Packers players Cleveland Browns players