 Eric Johnson appears as Whitney Fordman , Lana 's boyfriend , in season one . While initially friendly to Clark , he soon becomes jealous of Clark and Lana 's budding friendship , going so far as to haze Clark in the series pilot . Whitney is forced to run the family business when his father is stricken with a heart disease in the episode " Shimmer " . He ultimately loses his football scholarship , and in the episode " Kinetic " he starts ignoring Lana , and begins hanging around with past high school football stars , who recruit him for their illegal endeavors . He eventually reconciles with Clark and Lana before joining the Marines in the season one finale and leaving the show . Whitney has made a guest appearance in the season two episode " Visage " , where it is revealed he died in combat overseas , and the season four episode " Façade " , during a flashback of Clark 's freshman year . 
