Nikita Nehemiah Whitlock (born May 16, 1991) 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 tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

hybrid player. He was signed by the

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as an

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in 2014. Whitlock has also been a member of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the

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(NFL), the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in 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 ...

(CFL), and the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operation ...

in the

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. 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 ...

at Wake Forest.

Early years

Whitlock attended and played football at Wylie High School. He was named the AP Texas Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' named him the All-Area Defensive Player of the Year. Whitlock's height made it difficult for him to get noticed by college recruiters. As a freshman, he was , . He grew to , by his senior year. His high school coach, Bill Howard, said, "If he was 6-foot-3, he'd be the No. 1 defensive lineman in the country". Mesquite Horn coach Rodney Webb called Whitlock "the best defensive player he had seen at the high school level". Whitlock set the school bench press record at as a senior. ''Dallas Morning News'' sportswriter Matt Wixon called Whitlock "one of the most dominant high school linemen" he has ever seen. Whitlock had a standout high school career at Wylie High School, earning AP Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008, after playing defensive tackle and linebacker. He was offered scholarships to play football for SMU and

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

, and also received interest from TCU and

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, before committing to Wake Forest.

College career

Whitlock played

at Wake Forest from 2009 to 2013. At Wake Forest, Whitlock played

nose guard A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. Whitlock

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year in 2009, practicing as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. As a redshirt freshman, he was named second-team

freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

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and

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named him fourth team All-

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in 2012, as well as second-team pre-season All-ACC in 2013. He earned second-team All-ACC defensive honors in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, he was on the

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Americ ...

watchlist.

College statistics

''from Wakeforrestsports.com''

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

On May 12, 2014, Whitlock was signed as an undrafted free agent with the

. Upon signing with the Bengals, Whitlock was moved from defensive tackle to

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. At 5'10", , Whitlock was considered too small to play defensive tackle at the NFL level. He was released by the Bengals on August 30, 2014.

Dallas Cowboys

After being released by the Bengals, the

signed Whitlock to their

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, ...

on September 1, 2014. He was then released on September 9. The Cowboys re-signed Whitlock to the practice squad on September 16. He was then released again on November 3. A week later, Whitlock worked out for 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 ...

but was not signed. While a free agent, Whitlock was suspended by the NFL for four games on November 21; for violating the policy on performance-enhancing substances.

New York Giants

On December 17, 2014, Whitlock was signed to the

practice squad. He worked as both a fullback and a linebacker during practice. On December 29, 2014, Whitlock signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

with the Giants. In the

2015 NFL season The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL), and the 50th in the Super Bowl era. To celebrate the 50th season of the Super Bowl, a gold-plated NFL logo and other various gold-themed promotions w ...

, Whitlock defeated incumbent

Henry Hynoski Henry Philip Hynoski Jr. (born December 30, 1988) is a former American football fullback who played for the New York Giants from 2011 to 2014. He won Super Bowl XLVI with the team over the New England Patriots. Hynoski played college footba ...

for the fullback spot after surviving final cuts. Whitlock won the roster spot by his special teams play, as well as being younger and less expensive than Hynoski. In the final preseason game, Whitlock took snaps at both fullback and defensive tackle. He performed dual duty again during the Giants game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

on September 24, 2015. On December 23, 2015, Whitlock suffered a knee injury in the week 15 game against 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 ...

, and was placed on season-ending injured reserve. He finished the season playing 132 offensive plays, 61 defensive plays, and 276 special teams plays. On August 30, 2016, Whitlock was waived/injured by the Giants and placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. On September 15, 2016, he was suspended for 10 games for violation of the NFL's PED policy. After spending the entire 2016 season on injured reserve, Whitlock was not offered a contract by the Giants, making him a free agent.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On August 10, 2017, Whitlock was signed to the practice roster of the

of the

(CFL) as a defensive tackle. He was promoted to the active roster on August 16, 2017. Whitlock played in 11 games in 2017, making 15 tackles, 9 special teams tackles, and 3 sacks. In 2018, Whitlock's playing time increased to 17 games, but his production remained similar with 18 tackles, as well as 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 9 special teams tackles. Part of the plateau in defensive stats was due to a position change; during training camp in 2018, Whitlock was converted to running back in addition to defensive and special teams duties, becoming a rare player who took part in all 3 phases of the game. Despite some fumbling issues in a preseason game Whitlock remained a reserve running back alongside Mercer Timmis and Sean Thomas Erlington while starter Alex Green was out with injury and recent addition John White IV was learning the Ti-Cats playbook on the practice roster. In limited touches early in the season, Whitlock recorded 6 runs for 38 yards, and three catches for 10 yards. Due to his versatility, Whitlock was signed to a two-year contract extension in February 2019. However, Whitlock was one of several players released prior to 2019 training camp, including Green who, like Whitlock, had been recently extended.

Tampa Bay Vipers

In October 2019, Whitlock was among the open-round selections by the

in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

. In the five games played prior to cancellation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Whitlock had 19 tackles and a pass knockdown, earning him recognition as one of the top defensive tackles in the XFL by ''

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

''. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Personal life

Whitlock is the son of Raymond and Genny Whitlock. Whitlock was originally going to be named Sergio Nehemiah Whitlock, but his grandmother did not like the name. His father, who worked for

Yellow Pages The yellow pages are telephone directories of businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for ...

, opened up a phone book to a random page and put his finger down to select his name, ending up with Nikita. Whitlock graduated from Wake Forest with a Health and Exercise Science major. On December 6, 2016, Whitlock's

Moonachie, New Jersey Moonachie (; ) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, in the Hackensack River watershed. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 2,708,racially A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

charged graffiti. The perpetrator broke into his home, graffiti-ed several racial slurs and swastikas on his walls, and stole jewelry and electronics. Whitlock is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.

References

External links

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitlock, Nikita 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey People from Moonachie, New Jersey People from Wylie, Texas Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from Collin County, Texas Sportspeople from Dallas County, Texas American football linebackers American football defensive tackles American football fullbacks Canadian football defensive linemen American players of Canadian football Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Cincinnati Bengals players Dallas Cowboys players New York Giants players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Tampa Bay Vipers players Canadian football running backs