Dante Wesley

Dante Wesley

Wesley at the Carolina Panthers 2008 Fan Fest
No. 29, 21, 23, 33
Position:	Cornerback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1979-04-05) April 5, 1979
Place of birth:	St. Louis, Missouri
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Pine Bluff (AR) Watson Chapel
College:	Arkansas–Pine Bluff
NFL draft:	2002 / Round: 4 / Pick: 100
Career history
Carolina Panthers (2002–2005) Chicago Bears (2006) New England Patriots (2007)* Carolina Panthers (2007–2009) Detroit Lions (2010)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
2x second-team All-SWAC (1999-2000) First-team All-SWAC (2001) All-American (2001) 2× NFC champion (2003, 2006)
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Dante Julius Wesley (born April 5, 1979) is a retired American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Wesley was also a member of the Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Detroit Lions.

Professional career

First stint with Panthers

Wesley was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the 4th round (100th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Chicago Bears

In March 2006 he signed a 2-year contract with the Chicago Bears.

New England Patriots

After one season with the Bears, Wesley was acquired by the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Second stint with Panthers

On September 3, 2007, after being released by the Patriots, he signed again with the Carolina Panthers.

Wesley scored his first career touchdown on a 12-yard fumble return against the New Orleans Saints in the 2008 season finale.

Clifton Smith incident

In the 2009 NFL season, during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Wesley launched himself into punt returner Clifton Smith, who had called for a fair catch but not yet received the ball. Buccaneers players, feeling that Wesley's hit was an unwarranted cheap shot, swarmed onto the field. After a brief scuffle, order was restored. Wesley was assessed a 15-yard penalty and ejected. Ordinarily, kick catch interference is only a 15-yard penalty, but the officials ejected him because they felt Wesley's actions were unnecessary; referee John Parry explained the offense as "unnecessary roughness that was also a personal foul." Smith sustained a concussion and an injured throat and missed the remainder of the game.

Two days later, the NFL suspended Wesley for one game without pay. In a letter to Wesley, league disciplinarian Ray Anderson said that by leaving his feet and leading with his forearm, Wesley committed a "flagrant violation of player safety rules." Wesley said he never meant to harm Smith, saying he merely mistimed his hit on him. He also said he wanted to apologize to Smith.

Detroit Lions

Wesley signed with the Detroit Lions as an unrestricted free agent on April 3, 2010. Wesley was cut after the Lions had to go to the 53-man roster. He was re-signed by the Lions on September 30, 2010. He was released on October 19.

NFL stats

Year	Team	Games	Combined Tackles	Tackles	Assisted Tackles	Sacks	Forced Fumbles	Fumble Recoveries	Fumble Return Yards	Interceptions	Interception Return Yards	Yards per Interception Return	Longest Interception Return	Interceptions Returned for Touchdown	Passes Defended
2002	CAR	13	17	14	3	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
2003	CAR	16	16	14	2	1.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2004	CAR	13	20	18	2	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2005	CAR	16	17	16	1	0.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2006	CHI	13	10	9	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2007	CAR	2	2	2	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2008	CAR	16	9	8	1	0.0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2009	CAR	15	11	11	0	1.0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2010	DET	3	2	2	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career		107	104	94	10	2.0	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	18