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https://theathletic.com/3125769/2022/02/12/his-humanity-speaks-for-itself-rams-andrew-whitworth-comes-full-circle-with-bengals-joe-burrow-and-career-of-caring/

 

‘His humanity speaks for itself’: Rams’ Andrew Whitworth comes full circle with Bengals, Joe Burrow and career of caring

Jourdan Rodrigue and Paul Dehner Jr. Feb 12, 2022 59 


LOS ANGELES — Andrew Whitworth stood on a stage at the YouTube Theater, his face open and beaming, a full audience on its feet and applauding in front of him.

Whitworth was awarded the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year on Thursday night, just yards away from where the Rams will play the Bengals in the Super Bowl on Sunday. It’s fitting that Whitworth, the Rams left tackle and a team captain, stood on that particular stage at that moment. He represented his team of the last five seasons — with whom he’s enjoyed two Super Bowl runs — but also proudly carried his first team, the Bengals, in his heart.

 

“To be playing a franchise that I invested so much time in for 11 years, and not only that but a city that my family and I were invested in supporting and being a part of the community. … We knew every restaurant we went to, every store, we walked in and we knew everybody by name,” Whitworth said earlier this week. “They were a family. It’s a place that we were endeared to and we will follow and be fans of forever.

 

“This week couldn’t be more special — to have both franchises that we put our hearts and souls into to be playing each other in the Super Bowl.”

 

So much is coming full circle this week for the 40-year-old Whitworth — from the opponent the Rams will face to the impact he’s made on both rosters and coaching staffs, and even Joe Burrow, the young Bengals quarterback who has captained their remarkable historic run.

 

An evening of cigars and conversation at Whitworth’s Thousand Oaks, Calif., home turned into an impactful relationship between the two players: The veteran left tackle who has seen it all, and the blossoming superstar who is ready to accomplish it all.

 

Burrow relocated to Southern California in December 2020 in the wake of a devastating knee injury that ended his rookie season. His surgery was performed by Neal ElAttrache, who is also the Rams’ team surgeon and who has operated on stars like Tom Brady and Kobe Bryant.

 

Burrow’s recovery had to be more than a physical one. He faced several grueling months of rehab, coupled with the unique pressure of a young quarterback with the long-term hope and expectation of a franchise and fan base pressing down on his shoulders.

 

ElAttrache said he knew just the person Burrow should meet: Whitworth, who was also recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him through much of the regular season.

“Why don’t we go up and smoke a cigar?” ElAttrache said, chuckling as he recalled his conversation with Burrow. “It’ll be the only time I let you smoke a cigar through your recovery.”

 

Burrow and ElAttrache arrived at Whitworth’s sprawling home, and Burrow’s girlfriend, Olivia Holzmacher, arrived shortly after as did Whitworth’s wife, Melissa. They immediately jelled, and Whitworth brought out a few Montecristos.

 

“Both of us are the old man on crutches, the young man on crutches,” Whitworth said. “We sat around and had a good meal and spent the whole day together watching football games, and it was really fun.”

The two LSU products kept up with each other, too. When Whitworth turned 40, Burrow was there to celebrate with him. Two days later when Burrow turned 25, Whitworth did the same.

 

They hung out in a room Whitworth loves — the walls painted black and filled with his favorite books and sayings. He offered his home and his time to Burrow, should he ever need support or any words of advice.

 

“He kind of took me in,” Burrow said.


Joe Burrow formed a bond with Andrew Whitworth while the two were recovering from injuries. (Geoff Burke / USA Today)
As the Rams went through pregame warmups before the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco, Whitworth could hardly focus.

The video board at SoFi Stadium was showing the conclusion of the AFC Championship Game.

 

Stretch. Look up. Run a drill. Look up.

 

“I couldn’t hardly stop looking at the screen,” Whitworth said.

 

Neither could Melissa. There was no hiding her rooting interest in the Whitworths’ suite at the stadium. As kicker Evan McPherson’s game-winning field goal went through the uprights, she exploded in excitement and hugged everyone in sight.

 

“It’s been amazing (watching them go on a run),” Whitworth said. “Still have some great relationships there, and have developed some new ones with different guys in that locker room. I think, for my wife and I just watching them from afar, it’s so exciting. We were tuned in the whole time. It’s a really special place to us.”

Whitworth, who was drafted 55th by the Bengals in 2006, helped define the greatest run in their franchise history from 2011 to 2015, in which they made five consecutive playoff appearances.

 

His rise as one of the premier left tackles of his generation only told part of his impact. Whitworth quickly took over a leadership role on those teams in the meeting rooms and with the NFLPA, and in the community with the beginning stages of the Big Whit 77 Foundation.

 

Players gravitated toward him. They still do 16 NFL seasons later.

 

“He was a sounding board always,” said Andrew Hawkins, his teammate from 2011 to 2014. “We would sit in the players lounge and it’s almost like a hotline of guys in line. Like, ‘Yeah, man, this is my situation, maybe I should do this? Oh, this is what you want to do, always remember this.’ He was absolutely the guy that would withhold no information from you. Pull back the curtain of his own situation. Even information you might think is vulnerable and might not want to share. That is not Whit. Whit wants to do and give you all the information possible to help you in your own career and situation.”

 

In 2015, then-rookie fifth-round draft pick C.J. Uzomah watched from afar as the hulking left tackle set the standard of the locker room. Just trying to figure out how to block and which way to run was daunting enough, but watching Whitworth offered a glimpse at the type of player you could be in this league.

 

“Seeing how much the community loves him, seeing how much people love him, it’s an honor,” Uzomah said. “That’s what I aspire to be and do and that presence I want around the community, to help people out and be a really good football player on the field and use my platform, my influence in a positive way. Be a light for people. He is that.”

 

In 2021, Uzomah won the media cooperation award and became an energetic engine and public star of the Bengals while they made their breakthrough as a team.

“From the first day I stepped into the locker room I always remember Whit being the guy to look at,” Bengals starting center Trey Hopkins said. “He taught me a lot about what it means to be a pro and prepare yourself without having a coach lead you by the hand and tell you what you have to do and be coddled every second of the day.”

Hopkins was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Bengals in 2014. Whitworth had already been in the league for eight years when the two met. Eight years later, he’s still going and Hopkins is a 30-year-old leader on Cincinnati’s offensive line.

 

“It is unreal to think he is still playing,” Hopkins said. “That is crazy.”

 

The Rams are grateful he is. Whitworth has been a mentor to every player in their building since he arrived at their facilities in 2017. Even his initial steps in the Rams’ offices showed he’s all about others: His kids wore No. 17 Robert Woods jerseys because Woods was the other impact free agent the Rams brought in at that time. Whitworth became a guiding presence, a heartbeat and sometimes even a conscience to head coach Sean McVay, who was just 30 years old when he was hired. The two have developed an impactful friendship since.

 

“He’s meant a lot. He’s a special individual,” McVay said in 2019 (and has repeated often since). “(He is) one of the most empathetic individuals I’ve ever met in my life. I think that’s a rare quality, I think it’s a great quality for any leader to possess. … It’s a relationship that I certainly cherish. He’s helped me a lot (when I was) getting familiar with how to best handle this role and navigate through the things that occur on a daily basis. Somebody like him has been instrumental.”


Andrew Whitworth has been named first-team All-Pro twice in his career: in 2015 with the Bengals and in 2017 with the Rams. (Kirby Lee / USA Today)


Whitworth holds “Thursday” sessions with young Rams offensive linemen, an informal period after practice when they stay late as a group and work on technique and learn a little about life along the way. He has given countless hours and dollars to helping others, as a four-time Man of the Year nominee before his win. Whitworth donated $20,000 this season after every home game to help fight homelessness in Los Angeles and hurricane damage in his native Louisiana. He has built houses, worked at food banks, visited schools and homeless shelters and helmed the Rams’ social justice initiatives after the killing of George Floyd in 2020. After devastating fires through California and a tragic shooting near the Rams practice facility in 2018, Whitworth rallied teammates toward charitable efforts and led support efforts for both situations. Whitworth constantly texts with Melissa about what they can do next — whether via his foundation or even something as simple as showing up somewhere with a pair of willing hands and a smile.

 

Thursday night, as Whitworth gave his Walter Payton Man of the Year speech, he brought the audience to tears.

 

“This award … has been about players who are great on the football field, but live with their hearts off it,” Whitworth said.

 

“They made their time in the NFL about more than just the stats they put out on the field, but how they lived off of it.”

 

Whitworth’s retelling of yet another “full-circle” moment further revealed his impact. It happened on the field at SoFi Stadium after the Rams played Detroit in Week 7.

Derrick Barnes, a Lions rookie linebacker and player from Holy Cross High School in Northern Kentucky, approached Whitworth after a game and told him he attended the Boys & Girls Club that Whitworth and Bengals teammates used to visit years ago. Whitworth, Barnes said, inspired him to play football to make a difference in his own community. He wanted to thank him.

 

“For him to have made it to the NFL and to come and find me and give me a hug and tell me, thank you for all those years that I mentored him there and that Boys & Girls Club, I mean, just some surreal, unbelievable moments that have happened to me now playing at this age,” Whitworth told The Athletic after that moment. “And I think that’s one of the things that’s made it so special. I have so much gratitude to have existed this long in the NFL and have gotten to be a part of really cool moments like that.”

As Whitworth spoke Thursday night, Barnes was in the audience as one of his guests. Another moment, coming full circle.


The Bengals weren’t willing to compete with the Rams’ three-year, $39 million offer in free agency in March 2016. The Rams wanted a veteran leader who could help mentor their own young quarterback at the time, Jared Goff, and Whitworth’s resume in that area spoke for itself. But Whitworth was 35, and the Bengals felt his play may soon decline — despite his importance as a core leadership figure in the organization.

 

But Whitworth is still going — and he became an All-Pro, Pro Bowler and will go to his second Super Bowl with the Rams. He graded out this season as one of the best left tackles in football and made history as the oldest player to start an NFL game at left tackle.

 

Whitworth could have held on to some bitterness about his exit from Cincinnati. But that’s not his way.

 

In the weeks before the Rams’ 2019 Super Bowl run, Zac Taylor learned he would be named the next head coach of the Bengals — a major leap from his role as Rams quarterbacks coach.

 

Whitworth is actually six months older than Taylor, but he was determined to do everything he could to help him understand what to expect in Cincinnati.

“We had a text exchange back and forth after the game,” Taylor said. “That’s really how it’s been for the last three years. … He always had so much respect and appreciation for the Bengals and the staff here and the organization as a whole. I’m glad to have a relationship with Whit. He’s always done things the right way and set a very high standard for those that he’s around.”

 

A few years later, ElAttrache knew Whitworth would also be a great mentor for Burrow. He knew the soul of Whitworth as a caretaker.

Wherever Whitworth believes he can help, he goes all in. That kind of person needed to be in Burrow’s life, just as ElAttrache knew Whitworth would love building a friendship with the young quarterback.

 

“He’s a very, very kind and generous person who literally would do anything if somebody needed him, he’d be there,” ElAttrache said.


Andrew Whitworth gets a hug after receiving the NFL Man of the Year Award at the NFL Honors show Thursday. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)


“If no one ever knew who Andrew Whitworth was … he’d be the kind of person I would want in my life. He would be the kind of friend I’d want. I know if I had a couple of phone calls to make if I needed somebody, he would be at the top of the list. His humanity speaks for itself. When you spend a little time with him, you get it.”

ElAttrache rubs elbows with some of the most prestigious athletes on the planet. But, he says, Whitworth is in the upper echelon of people he’s ever been around. He knew that Whitworth would see something extraordinary in Burrow, who is already special himself. And he knew that Burrow would take something away from their time together, too.

 

“I learn a lot from Andrew, if I just go and relax and have a good time with him I’m gonna come away from that knowing something I didn’t know before — something important that I use, or that helps me to take care of people,” ElAttrache said. “Being with him, believe it or not, for how big and powerful of a man he is, being with Andrew is one of the most relaxing experiences you could ever have. He’s literally like a day at the beach, getting to be with Andrew. He’s got that kind of a way about him.

“I thought it would be interesting for Joe to meet him … to have somebody in his corner.”

 

Whitworth has discussed retiring after the 2021 season a few times but has also said he’ll wait until after the season to decide whether Sunday’s game will be his last.

“If it is, I mean, two places that I put my heart and soul into that mean the world to me, I couldn’t be happier for Cincinnati to be where they’re at and happier for us,” Whitworth said. “So if it is (the last game), it may be one heck of a way to end it.”

 

It’s only fitting that again, Whitworth will come full circle: playing in a Super Bowl against a team for which he was also a cornerstone player, and which is still so dear to his and his wife Melissa’s hearts.

 

And standing on the opposite sideline from yet another young player he’s taken under his wing, the quarterback who is becoming a cornerstone player himself.

Full circle, indeed — or just Whitworth being Whitworth, continuing cycles and generations of giving back and pouring everything he has into the places and people who mean the most to him.

 

To Whitworth, it’s simple.

 

“You will never regret making something about more than yourself.”

(Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic; photos: George Gojkovich, Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

 

 

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21 minutes ago, claptonrocks said:

I think he's a HOF especially with the ring now.

Great player for years and a great human being as well...

And the Man of the Year.

First ballot.  Would love to see him go in as a Bengal.

Too bad he didn't sign a one day contract and retire a Bengal.

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1 minute ago, High School Harry said:

And the Man of the Year.

First ballot.  Would love to see him go in as a Bengal.

Too bad he didn't sign a one day contract and retire a Bengal.


He can go in as a Bengal AND a Ram. It’s not like baseball. 

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Quitter.    Just kidding of course.  Just a rock of a player.  239 out of 257 games and 3 missed were simply meaningless games before playoffs. Played in 15 or more regular season games 13 of 16 seasons.  Fucking stud. 

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59 minutes ago, SF2 said:

Quitter.    Just kidding of course.  Just a rock of a player.  239 out of 257 games and 3 missed were simply meaningless games before playoffs. Played in 15 or more regular season games 13 of 16 seasons.  Fucking stud. 

Never to downplay his career, or his accomplishments. And, he was a Bengal. 
 

I just always wonder, when people talk about HOF linemen, hardly anyone mentions Jackie Slater. To be sure, he is in the HOF, he just isn’t talked about. 20 seasons, 259 NFL games, 5 1st or 2nd team All Pro, 7 Pro Bowls…

 

Well, he was a Ram..so screw him. 😄
 

 

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23 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Never to downplay his career, or his accomplishments. And, he was a Bengal. 
 

I just always wonder, when people talk about HOF linemen, hardly anyone mentions Jackie Slater. To be sure, he is in the HOF, he just isn’t talked about. 20 seasons, 259 NFL games, 5 1st or 2nd team All Pro, 7 Pro Bowls…

 

Well, he was a Ram..so screw him. 😄
 

 

Nature of the position.  Being great means you are hardly ever mentioned during a game.   PFF actually brings some spotlight to the position.  

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