Prior to his Super Bowl victory, Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth hinted that he was considering retirement. Now armed with a championship ring, the veteran admitted today that he’s leaning toward hanging up his cleats.
“There’s a lot that goes into that,” Whitworth said during an appearance on NFL Total Access (via NFL.com’s Nick Shook). “Obviously, the family’s involved. Me making sure that my commitment level to being the kind of player that I expect myself to be each and every Sunday is a part of that. So, that’s something I’m just gonna give it another couple of weeks and make sure I’m pretty confident what I want to do.
“I definitely think, I’m definitely leaning towards probably being done. I think that that’s probably best for me at this time in my career. There’s obviously days I’m waking up right now that I don’t know if I want to do that. It’s battling that a little bit. I’ll come to a conclusion here soon to give the Rams a chance to make the moves they need to one way or another. But man, what an awesome ride it’s been if this is the end.”
Whitworth had previously stated that he wants to keep playing for as long as possible, but he cautioned before the Super Bowl that a championship win would be “an unreal way to walk off.” Whitworth is under contract through the 2022 season, when his cap hit rises from its current figure of $5.67MM to $14.67MM.
A Bengals second-round pick in 2006, Whitworth played in Cincinnati for the first 11 years of his career. The four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All Pro has been with the Rams since 2017 and has consistently been one of the league’s pass protectors.
Mitchell Swartz incoming
Or they could bring in Jason Peters as a youthful alternative to Whitworth.
Go out on top big guy. No problem doing that at your age. Spend time with the family.
If he doesn’t retire that would be the shocker.
So…evidently, his neighbor is trying to talk him out of retirement by telling him the only better than winning a championship is winning another.
His neighbor’s name is Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky never won a championship while in L.A. or played at age 40 however.
Fact Check: True and true.
Were I a 40 year offensive linesman I’d probably ignore the scrawny dude who got hit 3 times his whole career and walk away while I still could.