Getty Andrew Whitworth before his first game as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in September 2017 against the Indianapolis Colts. Whitworth hinted on June 29 that this is his final season in the league.
Andrew Whitworth is one of the rare few in the NFL who have managed to stretch their career past the age of 38.
The 39-year-old and fixture at left tackle for the Los Angeles Rams will also reach this milestone this December: Playing the game at 40.
But the 16-year veteran, who has blocked for the Rams since the age of 35, is acknowledging that he’s in his twilight years. And now, he told the “Green Light” Podcast with Chris Long on June 29 that “it feels like this is it” and it’s time to call it a career.
Why ‘Whit” Chose to Play into his 40s
The native of Monroe, Louisiana, who entered the league as a second rounder drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006, shared with Long that he had visions of suiting up the pads into the age of 40 eight years ago.
“I set a goal in 2013, I had a patella injury and just was kind of getting frustrated with it and I was like, ‘If I get through this, I want to try to play till 40.’ I didn’t think it was realistic or that it’d happen, but I was like, ‘I want to try to do that,’” Whitworth shared.
Whitworth still played at a high level after his injury. He earned Second-Team All-Pro honors following the 2014 season. From there, he went on a streak of consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 2015 to 2017. His first Super Bowl appearance was with the Rams, winning the NFC championship in his home state of Louisiana by helping lift L.A. past the Saints 26-23 in the 2018 conference title game.
Before the Rams, Whitworth experienced his first Pro Bowl in 2012 with the Bengals and then two more with them in 2015 and ’16. He also tasted his first playoff experiences in Cincy. But he admits that NFL fans and the outside world had no clue who he was until his arrival to Southern California in 2017.
“I always joke: In my five years here in L.A., I’ve got more people to know who I am than I ever did in 11 years in Cincinnati as good as the runs were,” Whitworth stated.
Is This Really the End for ‘Whit?’
According to spotrac, Whitworth’s three-year contract with the Rams stretches to 2022 with a base salary of $7.5 million. He won’t become an unrestricted free agent until 2023, when he’ll be 42.
Once the Rams travel to Arizona to play NFC West division rival the Cardinals on December 13 for a Monday Night Football game, Whitworth will join Rams Hall of Fame lineman Jackie Slater with this milestone: Ram linemen who played the game in their 40s. Slater was 41 when he retired from the league following the 1995 season.
Along with playing into his 40s, Whitworth is bouncing back from a devastating left knee injury where he suffered a Grade 3 MCL/PCL injury. Whitworth, however, managed to rejoin the Rams for their 2021 playoff run when they upset the Seattle Seahawks before falling to the Green Bay Packers.
Whitworth told Long that his retirement talk has gone on for nearly a decade with those closest to him. But this time, signs are pointing that the veteran left tackle will be delivering his final football blocks in the 2021 season.
“This year, to me, it feels like this is it,” he said. “I’ve put everything into trying to play this season and playing at the level I want to. I feel like this will probably be the end, but also, all my closest friends will tell you that I’ve said that for about seven straight years, so I don’t know how believable it is, but it feels like it is.”