Nikita Nehemiah Whitlock (born May 16, 1991) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fullback and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. He was signed by the

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

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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 (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), and the Tampa Bay Vipers in the XFL. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Wake Forest.

Early life

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 in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' 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, and also received interest from TCU and Utah State, before committing to Wake Forest.

College career

Whitlock played

at Wake Forest from 2009 to 2013. At Wake Forest, Whitlock played nose guard. 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 typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

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

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

and Rivals.com. Phil Steele named him fourth team All- ACC 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 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. 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 gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

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. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

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

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with the Giants. During the 2015 offseason, Whitlock battled incumbent Henry Hynoski for the Giants' fullback spot. Whitlock's positional versatility, as well as being younger and less expensive than Hynoski, allowed him to win the job. 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The 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 ...

. 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). He was promoted to the active roster on August 16, 2017. In his first season with the Tiger-Cats Whitlock played in 11 games, making 15 tackles, 9 special teams tackles, and 3 sacks. During his second season in the CFL, Whitlock would begin to also play on offense and became a two-way player like he had in the NFL. Whitlock signed a two-year contract extension in February 2019. Despite signing the contract extension, Whitlock was later released during the 2019 offseason.

Tampa Bay Vipers

In October 2019, Whitlock was among the open-round selections by the Tampa Bay Vipers in the 2020 XFL Draft. In the five games played prior to cancellation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, 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''. 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 directory, telephone directories of business, businesses, organized by category rather than alphabetically by business name, in which advertising is sold. The directories were originally printed on yellow paper, ...

, 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 home was subject to vandalism with racially 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 Players of American football from Bergen County, New Jersey People from Moonachie, New Jersey People from Wylie, Texas Players of American football from Collin County, Texas Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas American football linebackers American football defensive tackles American football fullbacks Canadian football defensive linemen Players of Canadian football from New Jersey 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 Players of Canadian football from Texas