Andrew Whitworth seemingly loves his job on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football coverage, but he’s leaving the door open for a potential return to the field. Despite retiring this past offseason as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Whitworth went on Peter Schrager’s podcast and iterated that there’s a chance he would consider unretiring to rejoin the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I’ve said this since the day I retired, I’ll never say never,” Whitworth said on The Season with Peter Schrager podcast. “There’s always a chance.”
Whitworth retired in the offseason with the Rams following a storybook ending where he defeated his former team, the Bengals, in the Super Bowl to conclude his legendary career. The All-Pro offensive tackle is technically under contract with the Rams, so if he were to come out of retirement, the Rams and Bengals would need to work out some type of agreement.
The Bengals recently lost La’El Collins for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL, which is why the conversation has heated up surrounding a potential reunion for Whitworth. Cincinnati is considered one of the legitimate contenders in the AFC with an 11-4 record, so he’d have a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls with the only two teams he spent his 16 seasons playing for.
Earlier this month, Whitworth turned 41 years old and he spoke about how he’d have to make sure he could handle the rigors of playing football again while also discussing everything with his family before making a return. This Thursday’s game will be the final Thursday night game that Whitworth will need to be an analyst for this season, so there’s a chance we could see him playing football again for the team that drafted him in 2006.