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Donte Whitner talks Aldon Smith return, Jonathan Martin bullying

Donte Whitner spoke with SiriusXM NFL Radio, discussing Aldon Smith's return from rehab, rookies entering the league and the Jonathan Martin bullying situation. New to Niners Nation? Sign up here and join the discussion!

By David Fucillo
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

San Francisco 49ers safety Donte Whitner made an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, and he had some really interesting comments about Aldon Smith's return, helping rookies get ready and the Jonathan Martin bullying situation.

He talked about how Smith came in and had a lot of early success at a young age, and that players sometimes have to learn how to deal with that success. He spoke to how he has worked to clean things up, and that he was still a work in progress.

That led to some more general discussion about rookies getting used to playing in the NFL. Whitner talked about how some players come into the league with a certain sense of entitlement, which makes it hard to talk with them. However, he contrasted that with Eric Reid's situation. Whitner discussed how Reid is having a great year, but remains humble thanks in part to being raised the right way.

Whitner also had a chance to address the Jonathan Martin bullying situation:

"We don't have those types of issues. I can honestly say this is one of the closest football teams, this is one of the closest group of men I've been around. We play and we have fun, but we know not to cross certain boundaries. We know not to cross respect boundaries, sexuality boundaries, disrespect people as individuals. We don't even do the whole rookie hazing thing. It came from Coach Harbaugh, said it from day one, we're not gonna do it. The players, we don't really care to do it. We care more about incorporating rookies into our system to help us win football games. And everything else that goes on, we don't really care for."

Here is the audio from his appearance:


The bullying issue is a serious topic, and it has gotten even more so with some reports that Miami Dolphins coaches asked Richie Incognito to "toughen up" Jonathan Martin. The first thing most people thought of when that news came out was the Code Red in A Few Good Men.

One amusing thing did come out of it. Adam Jacobi put together this string of tweets, re-doing the Colonel Jessup courtroom scene. This is pretty impressive:

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