# Jermaine Whitehead

Jermaine Rasheed Whitehead (born March 12, 1993) is an American former professional football safety. He played college football at Auburn, and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He was also a member of the Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, and Cleveland Browns.

## Early life

Whitehead was born in Greenwood, Mississippi to Teveeta Whitehead and Frank Ellis. Whitehead attended Amanda Elzy High School where he played cornerback and quarterback with the Panthers football team. After a productive season in 2009 as quarterback saw Whitehead earn District 3 (4A) Player of the Year, he went on to play his junior and senior seasons as a cornerback. Whitehead's defensive performances earned him numerous regional, state and All-American honors from ESPN.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports and Rivals.com. By his senior season, Whitehead held a 3.71 GPA. Whitehead received offers from Tennessee, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Auburn.

## College career

Whitehead attended Auburn University, where he played on the Auburn Tigers football team from 2011 to 2014.
He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in accounting.

### College statistics

Auburn Tigers :
| Year | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | G | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TDs | FF | FR |
| 2011 | 13 | 1 | 31 | 22 | 9 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 12 | 12 | 86 | 40 | 46 | 1.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2013 | 14 | 14 | 65 | 44 | 21 | 0.0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 | 9 | 6 | 36 | 27 | 9 | 0.0 | 1 | 6 | 57 | 9.5 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 48 | 33 | 218 | 133 | 85 | 1.0 | 15 | 9 | 82 | 9.1 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Source: AuburnTigers.com Archived September 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine |||||||||||||||

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 197 lb (89 kg) | 31 in (0.79 m) | 9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.59 s | 1.64 s | 2.70 s | 4.11 s | 6.95 s | 37 in (0.94 m) | 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m) | 15 reps |
| All values are from NFL Combine ||||||||||||

### San Francisco 49ers

After going undrafted in the 2015 NFL draft, Whitehead signed with the San Francisco 49ers 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 the following day.

### Baltimore Ravens

On December 23, 2015, the Baltimore Ravens 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 Green Bay Packers 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 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, Whitehead was ejected after slapping center David Andrews in the face mask. He was then released by the Packers on November 6, 2018.

### Cleveland Browns

On November 7, 2018, Whitehead was claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns. On September 29, 2019, he had his first NFL career interception and forced fumble 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, a game in which he missed a number of crucial tackles. Whitehead later apologized for the messages.

## NFL career statistics

Regular season statistics :
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sack | Safety | PD | Int | Yds | Lng | TDs | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 2016 | GB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | GB | 10 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | GB | 7 | 2 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | CLE | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | CLE | 8 | 8 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 34 | 10 | 76 | 58 | 18 | 1.0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Source: NFL.com |||||||||||||||||||

## Retirement

After his final NFL season, Whitehead began a career in finances including jobs in payroll and financial management. From 2020 to 2021, Whitehead attended Syracuse University, graduating with a Master's Degree in accounting. Since 2022, he has worked as a senior staff accountant for Vertical Communication based in Atlanta, Georgia.