Ted Whitten Junior's life as a footballer was always going to come under the microscope, fairly or otherwise, as the son of one of the greatest players to pull on a pair of footy boots.

But the younger Whitten, whose own senior footy journey began 46 years ago today, was made to feel at ease about forging his own career by the great man himself.

Speaking in a radio interview in 2016, Whitten Junior said his father's advice to ignore external expectations stayed with him throughout his playing days.

"The old man was fantastic,” said Whitten Junior. “He always said don’t worry about what anyone else says, just make sure you do what your coach says and if he’s happy and the club is happy - as long as you’re giving 100 per cent - that’s fine."

Ted Junior's first chance to give 100 per cent came up on April 27, 1974, and he did just that and more.  Footscray had had a faltering start to their season and coach Bob Rose decided to instil some extra youth into the side for the Bulldogs' Round 4 match against South Melbourne.  At just 17 years and 43 days old, Whitten certainly had youth.

Three other teenagers, Alan Stoneham (wearing Whitten Senior's number 3 jumper), Geoff Jennings and Ian Dunstan joined Ted that afternoon, while 21-year-old Ross Abbey and 25-year-old Ray Huppatz had only 13 games of experience between them.

All five played important roles as Footscray overcame a six-point quarter-time deficit to lead the Swans by 25 at the long break.  The Dogs then powered away in the second half to win by 45 points and get their season back on track.  Whitten collected 16 touches on debut.

Whitten had an even better game the following week, picking up 22 possessions as the Dogs defeated the highly fancied Hawthorn at VFL Park.  Whatever unrealistic expectations were being placed on Ted Junior because he was the son of a football legend were clearly not weighing him down.

Unfortunately, what did weigh Ted down as his career unfolded were knee injuries.  The first of those came in just his third match.  Whitten was forced from the ground in the first quarter of the Bulldogs' 50-point win over Essendon in Round 5, and did not return until Round 11.

In and out of the side until late in the 1975 season Whitten had a breakout match in the second last round of that year — also against the Swans — kicking five goals and collecting 25 possessions. 

From that point on, Whitten Junior was to become one of the first picked at the Footscray selection table each week, and his talent and consistency were rewarded in later seasons with a place in Victoria's State of Origin side, an achievement of which his famous father — who viewed interstate representation as the pinnacle of Australian football — was rightly very proud.

Whitten Junior had played 144 games and kicked 133 goals across nine impressive seasons at the Bulldogs when his career came to an abrupt and unfortunate end.  Playing against Collingwood in a curtain-raiser to an Ash Wednesday bushfire charity match in early 1983, Whitten had a seemingly innocuous collision with a Magpie that was to end his playing days.

“I just went head-to-head with a Collingwood player, which is something you do every game, but came off second best.  As it turned out it was a posterior cruciate ligament I did.  Didn’t know it for a while, but that was basically the end of my footy career."

Whitten Junior underwent three reconstructive operations to no avail.

“After the third one I’d just had enough and wanted to play golf, do the fitness stuff and just try to live a general life playing a bit of sport.”

While his playing days were over, the game and the Bulldogs remained in the hearts of Ted Whitten Junior and Senior until the famous ‘E.J.’ passed away aged 62 as the result of prostate cancer in 1995.  After his father's passing, Ted Junior established the E.J. Whitten Foundation to help raise awareness of prostate cancer and fund research into the disease. 

Whitten Junior remains the Executive Director of the Foundation to this day, as well as being a trustee and board member.