He was mostly utilized as a kick returner with the Wolfpack while becoming an All-American on the track. Despite earning a spot in the 1996 Olympic Trials, leaving football for track full-time was never a consideration for Whitted.

“I love the game. I love the game of football and that's what I want to do, just because of what the game represented and the people that I was around,” he said.

He was a seventh-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1998, which started a nine-year career in the NFL. He played four seasons with Jacksonville, part of a season with the Atlanta Falcons and finished the final five seasons of his career with the Oakland Raiders. He was special teams ace and returner for most of his career, including the Raiders’ run to the Super Bowl in 2002, before retiring in 2007.

He said the biggest lesson he learned from his playing career was how to rise to the occasion.