2025 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Lionel Whittingham Jr., OL, Mount Marty University

• Name: Lionel Whittingham Jr.
• Position: Offensive line versatile Guard, Center, Tackle
• College: Mount Marty University
• Height: 6’4
• Weight: 315
• Twitter: @Motocykal1106
• Instagram: Lionel_Whitt_Jr

What makes you a top prospect at your position in the 2025 NFL Draft?

• I would say what makes me a top prospect at my position is that I’m versatile I can switch to each position on the offensive line and be comfortable understanding the plays at each position and be able to be coachable and understand my mistakes and fix them on the fly making me as a player better within my craft.

What is one thing that NFL teams should know about you?

• NFL teams should know that I am a team player I have ROTC experience so I understand that not one person can carry a team, but you have to come together as one to achieve the ultimate goal. I always do my best to make sure people aren’t left out or feel excluded because I know the feeling, always doing my best to motivate the people around me to be better and uplift everyone because at the end because that way it will only  build team chemistry and position chemistry. I also love to laugh and joke when the time is right.

If you could donate to one cause in the world, what would it be?

• One cause that I would donate to would be children in poverty and that is something that I think about daily because I was raised to treat others the way I want to be treated and I also believe that every kid deserves a chance at life and a comfortable life without struggle and going without the basic necessities they need to survive. This cause is so important to me because at a time I was a kid in poverty coming from a single mother I didn’t have a lot of the things I may have needed, and my mom worked twojobs daily. 

Who was your role model as a kid?

• My role model is my mother and that’s because I watched my mother raise me and my sister by herself. She never complained, never wavered but did all she could to make sure her children had a good life and didn’t know they were poor. Watching her work ethic and the many days she would cry only made me realize that I want to grow up and have that same work ethic and drive that she has because it shows that if you get knocked down once to get back up and try harder the next time.

Who is your favorite NFL team?

• My favorite NFL team is the Green Bay Packers. I have had a cheese head since a kid and because green is my favorite color and that’s the first time, I saw with green. Seeing Brett Favre and then Aaron Rodgers and Devonte Adams I was glued to the television watching them create magic on the field every game they played.

Who is the most underrated teammate at your school?

• My most underrated teammate I would say is a tight end by the name of Rex Ryken and he is a tight end that never gives up very quiet but hard working anything my coaches Ask of him is done without anything said. I think he is overlooked because he never made it to the big stage because Yankton south Dakota is such a small town and people don’t know there is NFL talent and potential there.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

• I hate people that brag and talk a big game off the field to other people around the school and community to make themselves seem like a starter or the best and then when they get an opportunity to compete they don’t live up to the expectations they set for themselves and the expectations they told other people they could accomplish.

Who is your favorite teacher ever?

• My favorite teacher is Mrs. Beneby Coleman and from 2^ndgrade up until know she has been someone that made sure I was peaking at my best and always making sure that I stayed on the right track because she knew I was a special kid and made sure that I had all the tools to be the best version of myself.

Overcoming adversity is what defines character, what was the hardest moment in your life to overcome?

• The biggest adversity that I’ve faced in my life would be having offers out of high school and losing most of them due to a fault of my own. Heading to a NAIA school where I competed through spring ball and fall camp just to be ineligible three season in a row due to the school giving me repeat courses and enrolling me full time in classes. Deciding to change I walked on to FAU and achieved my dream of getting back to Division 1 after getting acquainted I went through fall camp just to be told by the NCAA that I only had one season to play in the NCAA and my eligibility would be done because my five year play clock was out of time. That fall season came and went competing but never seeing the field. After that I gave up on football for two years until I got the call from Coach Heath Zuck at Mount Marty University asking if I would take a chance on their program and I did.

If you could have any franchise restaurant in your house what would it be?

• I would have to say Bolay is the best restaurant to me, a healthy chipotle and I could eat it all day if I was allowed to.

What is your favorite snack food?

• My favorite snack food would be jalapeno beef jerky and strawberry lemonade light ice.

What is your degree in?

• My degree is in criminal justice studying cyber security.

If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would it be and why?

1. My grandfather- He taught me many things in his short time of life but there are questions that I would still want to ask and things I want to know from his point of view.
2. My Godfather – I would just like to continue to learn how to run a farm and enjoy the good times we had sitting on the fish creek and hunting and learning all the knowledge that he was giving me about the way world works and how to be a man in this growing society.
3. My mother and to thank her for all the sacrifices that she made to provide for me and my sister and thank her for also pushing me past my limits in sports because as I got older it only made me better and stand out among others.

What is your biggest weakness?

• I would say my biggest weakness is being too naïve and letting people run over me at times instead of asserting myself and letting people know my boundaries and then get upset with myself later after everything is said and done.