Tahir Ali Whitehead (born April 2, 1990) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for Temple University, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Early years
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Whitehead played high school football at West Side High School, where he was part of the team that won the 2007 state sectional championship.
College career
Whitehead played four years for Temple from 2008 through 2011. After primarily playing on special teams as a freshman and sophomore, Whitehead carved out a starting role in the 2010 season and finished sixth on an 8–4 Temple team with 56 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for a loss. As a senior in 2011, Whitehead had 70 tackles, five sacks, and 13.5 tackles-for-loss for a Temple team that went 9–4 and won a bowl game for the first time since 1979. Whitehead was named a Second Team All-MAC selection following the season.
Professional career
Whitehead attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana and completed all of the combine drills. On March 16, 2012, he attended Temple's pro day and opted to run all of the combine drills for the scouts and team representatives. He posted faster times in the short shuttle, 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, and three-cone drill. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Whitehead was projected to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick. He was ranked as the 21st-best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions selected Whitehead in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. The Lions traded their seventh-round pick (219th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft and their fourth-round pick (102nd overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft to the Minnesota Vikings for their fifth-round pick (138th overall) and seventh-round pick (223rd overall) in 2012. Whitehead was the 18th linebacker selected in 2012 and was one of three Temple players, joining Bernard Pierce and Evan Rodriguez.
2012
On March 10, 2012, the Detroit Lions signed Whitehead to a four-year, $2.31 million contract that included a signing bonus of $212,000.
Throughout training camp, Whitehead competed for the backup linebacker role against Doug Hogue. Head coach Jim Schwartz named Whitehead the backup outside linebacker behind Justin Durant, DeAndre Levy, and Doug Hogue to start the regular season.
On September 16, 2012, Whitehead made his professional regular season debut and made one solo tackle and a forced fumble during a 27–19 loss at the San Francisco 49ers. His first career tackle and forced fumble came as he was covering a kick return and tackled Kendall Hunter. He caused a Hunter to fumble and the ball was recovered by Kassim Osgood in the first quarter. In Week 10, he made a season-high two solo tackles in a 34–24 loss at the Minnesota Vikings. He appeared mainly on special teams during his rookie season and finished with a total of 11 combined tackles (eight solo) and a forced fumble in 14 games and zero starts.
2013
Whitehead returned to training camp in and competed against Ashlee Palmer, Travis Lewis, and Rocky McIntosh for the starting outside linebacker role that was left vacant after the departure of Justin Durant to the Dallas Cowboys in free agency. Head coach Jim Shwartz named him the backup to Ashlee Palmer and DeAndre Levy to start the regular season.
He played in the Detroit Lions' season-opener and assisted on one tackle in their 34-24 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. On September 29, 2013, he recorded a season-high two solo tackled during a 40-32 victory over the Chicago Bears. He finished the season with nine combined tackles (seven solo) in 16 games and appeared solely on special teams. Whitehead didn't play a single snap on defense in his first two seasons.
2014
Throughout training camp, Whitehead competed for the job as the outside linebacker against Kyle Van Noy and Ashlee Palmer. New head coach Jim Caldwell named Whitehead the starting strongside linebacker to start the 2014 regular season.