National Football League

Hold on to your jerseys -- Donte Whitner isn't changing his name after all

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:28 p.m. ET

Sam Gardner

Hope you didn't already pre-order your "Donte Hitner" 49ers jersey, because, as it turns out, Donte Whitner likes his name just fine how it is.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the San Francisco safety has withdrawn the name-change request he previously filed in an Ohio court.

Previously, Whitner said he wanted to legally become "Hitner" in response to unnecessary roughness penalties in back-to-back games, including one on the touchdown-saving hit below (via SB Nation), which earned him a $21,000 fine:

It's unclear why Whitner had the change of heart regarding his name, but there's a thought that he may have decided it simply wasn't worth the cost he would have been forced to take on to buy up all of Nike's leftover "Whitner" jerseys.

In any case, Whitner doesn't seem to have totally closed the door on the idea, based on this tweet the 2012 Pro Bowl selection sent out Tuesday afternoon:

So actually, on second thought, maybe hold onto that "Hitner" jersey for a few more months. Just in case.