Andrew Whitworth spent 11 years with the Cincinnati Bengals, building a fantastic resume during his time with the organization. He made the Pro Bowl three times, was a first-team All-Pro in 2015 and reached the playoffs six times.
He’s found even more success with the Los Angeles Rams the last five years, however. He helped the Rams make the playoffs four times and has them on the brink of winning a Super Bowl – coincidentally against the Bengals.
At 40 years old, it’s reasonable to think Whitworth might retire after this season, even though he hasn’t definitively said he will. And there would be no better storybook ending to his 16-year career than to beat his former team in the Super Bowl.
Whitworth doesn’t have any disdain for the Bengals and appreciates his time in Cincinnati. But he would love to capture that elusive Super Bowl ring in less than two weeks to cap off a Hall of Fame-worthy career.
And after he was lowballed by the Bengals during free agency in 2017, beating them would be a cherry on top for the veteran left tackle.
“For me, honestly, I had three or four offers that were all really right the same,” he said back in 2018. “The only real offer for me, unfortunately, that wasn’t really equivalent to the others was the team I was with, the Cincinnati Bengals, were really the only team that was the outlier in the offers I received. So I knew that that probably meant for me, really the situation I was under, and the excitement to try and go win, really not having much of a commitment from them, felt like I was going to have to go somewhere.”
Being the leader that he is, Whitworth doesn’t hold a grudge against the Bengals for offering him less than other teams in free agency. He’s talked to people in Cincinnati and the city has a special place in his family’s heart, even with the Super Bowl approaching.
“Obviously I’ve heard from a ton of people over there,” Whitworth said Monday, via the Rams’ official site. “And yeah, it’s really cool and really special. I mean, having a relationship with a lot of the staff over there still, and also some of the players, and then obviously, all the relationships that we had over our time there in the city, it’s a really special place to us. And I think I told Zac Taylor this last night when we spoke, is both places have my heart and both places have people I believe in.”
There’s a lot riding on this game for those on both sides, but for Whitworth, it could be the perfect ending to his remarkable career.
