Donte Whitner: Another unnecessary guarantee in the NFL
Jon Kitna did it for a whole season. Anthony Smith and Joey Porter are examples of players who did it for one game. Now, Donte Whitner has done it.
What did they all do? They made guarantees about the outcome of a game or a season.
What do Kitna, Smith and Porter share in common? They were all wrong.
Kitna guaranteed a 10-win season in 2007. The Lions? 10 wins? Most people laughed and shrugged it off. But half-way through 2007, the Lions were poised to make good on Kitna's guarantee with a 6-2 record. The Lions then went on to a 1-7 second half.
Smith's guarantee that the Steelers would beat the unbeaten Patriots was well-publicized. Not only did Smith fall through on his guarantee, but he got burned (twice).
After an 0-2 start, Porter said about his Dolphins' week 3 game: "Write it how you want to write it: we will win on Sunday."
Since these guarantees never work out, I'm going to try reverse psychology and say here for the record that I GUARANTEE that Brazilian supermodel Giselle Bunchen won't leave Tom Brady for me! (O.K. I admit that it's probably not going to work, but it was worth a try, right?)
But now Donte Whitner in a Sporting News column has said: "Do I expect us to make the playoffs?"..."I'm guaranteeing it."
Maybe Donte Whitner is right. In fact, I think the Buffalo Bills are headed in the right direction and have a legitimate shot at the # 6 seed.
Having confidence is great. Making guarantees is unnecessary. There is absolutely no benefit derived from making a public guarantee. Considering how tough the AFC is, Whitner should just shut up and let his and his teammates' play speak for them.
