Cody Whitehair
Cody Michael Whitehair (born July 11, 1992) is an American football center for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas State.
Whitehair in 2019 | |||||||
No. 65 – Chicago Bears | |||||||
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Position: | Center | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Kearney, Nebraska | July 11, 1992||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 310 lb (141 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Abilene (Abilene, Kansas) | ||||||
College: | Kansas State | ||||||
NFL Draft: | 2016 / Round: 2 / Pick: 56 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||
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High school career
A native of Abilene, Kansas, Whitehair attended Abilene High School, where he was a two-way lineman for the Cowboys football varsity. In his senior year, he was named to PrepStar magazine’s All-Midlands Region team after being credited with 140 pancake blocks and 81 total tackles (41 solo, 40 assisted) with 15 sacks on the season, as Abilene finished 10–1 after losing to Buhler in the second round of the KSHSAA 4A state playoffs.
College career
After redshirting his first year at Kansas State in 2011, Whitehair became a starter at guard in 2012 and 2013. Prior to his junior year in 2014, he moved to offensive tackle, where he started as a junior and senior.[1][2][3][4]
Professional career
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 3 3⁄4 in (1.92 m) |
301 lb (137 kg) |
32 3⁄8 in (0.82 m) |
10 1⁄8 in (0.26 m) |
5.08 s | 4.58 s | 7.32 s | 25.5 in (0.65 m) |
9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) |
16 reps | |||
All values from NFL combine[5] |
Whitehair was selected in the second round, 56th overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2016 NFL draft.[6] After a season-ending injury to 2015 third round pick Hroniss Grasu in training camp, Whitehair started at left guard during the preseason. Whitehair was then moved to the starting center position after the team signed veteran guard Josh Sitton. He went on to start all 16 games at center and was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
In 2018, Whitehair played every offensive snap and was named to the 2019 Pro Bowl, becoming the first Bears center since Olin Kreutz to play in the all-star game.[7][8] He was the only Bears player on either side of the ball to participate in every down.
Before the 2019 season, Whitehair moved to left guard, while that position's starter, James Daniels, shifted to center.[9] On September 1, Whitehair signed a five-year contract extension worth $52.5 million with $27.5 million guaranteed.[10] In November, with the offense struggling in the midst of a four-game losing streak, Whitehair returned to center.[11]
References
- Whitehair makes smooth transition on K-State offensive line
- Kansas State’s Cody Whitehair finds home at left tackle
- O-line Anchor: ’Cats' Whitehair embraces being leader for K-State
- Cody Whitehair embraces extra responsibility as Kansas State’s left tackle
- http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/cody-whitehair?id=2555132
- Mayer, Larry (April 29, 2016). "Bears trade down twice, draft Whitehair". ChicagoBears.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- Potash, Mark (January 22, 2019). "Bears offensive linemen Charles Leno, Cody Whitehair added to NFC Pro Bowl team". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- Mayer, Larry (February 8, 2019). "Bears 2018 position review: Offensive line". Chicago Bears. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- Barbieri, Alyssa (May 22, 2019). "Matt Nagy confirms James Daniels will play center in 2019". USA Today. Bears Wire. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- Alper, Josh (September 1, 2019). "Cody Whitehair signs five-year extension with Bears". NBC Sports.
- Perez, Bryan (November 10, 2019). "Matt Nagy pleased with Cody Whitehair's switch to center in win over Lions". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 26, 2019.