Willie Whitehead

Willie Whitehead Jr. (born January 26, 1973) is a former professional American and Canadian football defensive end who played for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He walked-on to play college football with Auburn before winning a scholarship. He graduated with a Communications degree in 1994, garnering 65 tackles and five sacks his senior season.

Professional career Whitehead began his pro career signing as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers for the 1995 season. After being cut by the 49ers, he split time between the CFL's Baltimore Stallions active roster and the 49ers practice squad. The following season, he played with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes and then in 1997 he led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in sacks and added 44 tackles. After his strong showing in the CFL, Whitehead spent the 1998 training camp with the Detroit Lions before having a brief stint with the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. In 1999, Whitehead found his place on a permanent NFL roster, earning a starting position with the New Orleans Saints, with whom he has remained for the last eight seasons of his NFL career. He has the second most sacks among current Saints players with 24.5 sacks (the other defensive end Charles Grant leads with 33). On June 15, 2007, the Saints released him.

NFL career statistics Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds TD Lng FF FR Yds TD 1999 NOR 16 3 36 30 6 7.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2000 NOR 16 2 27 17 10 5.5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2001 NOR 14 0 21 18 3 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2002 NOR 12 10 34 24 10 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2003 NOR 11 10 40 33 7 5.5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2004 NOR 8 0 10 6 4 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2005 NOR 16 15 35 24 11 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2006 NOR 12 3 13 9 4 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 105 43 216 161 55 24.5 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0

Playoffs Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds TD Lng FF FR Yds TD 2000 NOR 2 0 5 4 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2006 NOR 2 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 6 5 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

Personal Whitehead and his father, Willie Whitehead Sr. are both members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Whitehead along with Ira Newble appeared together on an episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta where they were dates at an auction.