Whitworth talks to Rodrigue

Former Rams LT Andrew Whitworth talks life after football and new broadcast career

By Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/3565688/2022/09/07/rams-andrew-whitworth-broadcasting-career/?source=emp_shared_article

It’s a bit of a surreal week for Andrew Whitworth.

The Rams’ former longtime left tackle and team captain, who was signed in free agency in 2017, and appeared in two Super Bowls with one win in 2021 at age 40, has launched into life after football after announcing his retirement in March.

“It’s probably 25 Augusts in a row that I’ve been in a (football) training camp at some point,” he told The Athletic last week.

But it’s not like Whitworth to sit still. He’s exploring a new broadcast career with Amazon, and drew rave reviews from his calls on the Rams’ own crew in the preseason. He’s entering into new partnerships with corporations such as Pepsi (who facilitated our interview). Whitworth even joined Twitter for the first time in his 16-year NFL career.

Whitworth recently joined The Athletic for a wide-ranging conversation about all of this, and more. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

You’re launching into these (new) spaces now, where you have a lot of room to make choices — which probably is cool, but also maybe a little bit scary?

Yeah, I mean, definitely. It’s one of those things where — for me, I’ve always been such a quiet guy in the facility, other than just shepherding people. Now to be out, and to be like, “Hey, I get to be who I really am, and my real personality when I’m not trying to shepherd guys, be there for guys, just keep stoic and be a rock for people in the building,” it’s a lot of fun. I’m actually the opposite of those things. I love to talk, love to laugh and have fun and be a part of things. That’s part of my nature, creating a culture in any room I walk in.

I’ve known you for a couple of years, and you’re always so comfortable with who you are. So when I’m hearing you on these (game) broadcasts, it seems so seamless for you. What has the jump into that been like?

The best way I’ve heard it explained to me … (Amazon’s talent producer) calls me “very curious”. I am. I’m just curious, I love to get to know people, I love to get to know what makes them tick, what makes them happy, what food they like, what music they like, what their favorite things to do in their spare time are. For me, entering the broadcasting space and being in media, it’s not that I think I’m some great fit from a standpoint of a voice or knowledge about certain things, but I do think I’m a fit for (what I) think are the greatest things for fans watching the games — all the different ways that they’re passionate about it. All of the different ways that their favorite players or teams are interesting. I love to explore the way people are interesting, and what makes them who they are, all the little things that make them unique. To be someone who is wound that way, and then to be able to go articulate it to people, I think that’s gonna be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to talk about a game that’s changed my life, and all of the cool aspects of it.

And not just the football — I obviously know a lot about the game of football. But also, to talk about the fan experience and what they’re doing during the game, and what, as a player, I’m watching — fans downing hot dogs and Pepsis and thinking, “man, dude, I wish I was sitting over there where they are.” Just all of the things you notice as a player, what makes up an experience at an NFL game. I can’t wait to talk about those things.

Nice plug. Very Seamless.

Hey, Jourdan, I’m a professional. (laughs)

Traditionally, in the broadcast space, they’ve paired the X’s and O’s person with someone who does dig a little deeper, has the color analysis and the locker room insight. It seems like you’re comfortable doing both.

I love all of it. I think, just like with people, there’s good, bad and everything in between. All of it really has a place. I think X’s and O’s, there’s a lot to understand about the game of football. But to your average fan who is watching the game, they want to know what drives Jalen Hurts or Matthew Stafford, or whoever. They want to know what makes them who they are. … They want a better look inside their favorite players, in their favorite game. Why a coach calls certain plays, why he thinks it’s important to put players in certain positions. I think there are the X’s and O’s, and then there’s the “why”. And I love both, and I think both are extremely important to understanding the game.

At the same time, you’re still connected to your past space — I see you around the building all the time, you’ve got “the Dojo” (his garage/workout space for the offensive linemen) still flowing. Even as you jump into this new phase in your life, what about staying connected to your past, your foundation, is so important to you?

I’m still (at the Rams’ facilities) to mentor some of these guys who have leaned on me. I’m still there to communicate with Raheem Morris, Sean McVay, Jacques McClendon, Reggie Scott. Any of those guys, Kevin Demoff, Tony Pastoors, Les (Snead). I still want to be a sounding board for them, just like I have been for the last five years. … I really chose not to get (formally) involved organizationally because I felt like right now I had a bigger passion to get involved in talking about the game rather than being directly involved, and the hours and time that took. I wasn’t ready to take that one. Maybe I will be, one day, but as of now (I am) really loving the space I’m in. I’m gonna actually be the “anti” of that, because I’m gonna be the one, like, encouraging Sean McVay, “hey dude, I think one of the best broadcasts ever could be me and you talking about football.” (laughs). I mean, what would be better than me and my little brother just going back and forth, the X’s and O’s and the other stuff? It’s the perfect world of both, it’d be like people attending a Nobu Malibu offseason football sesh with Sean McVay and Andrew Whitworth, (which) we do every year. I’m on the other side, now. Kevin Demoff probably won’t even let me come up there, now that I just said that.

You and Sean, your friendship has grown maybe from the day you got to Los Angeles. It was always going to be more collaboration, less player/coach. I know he’s leaned on you a good bit over the last couple of years, too. Are you eager to re-learn him, in a way, outside of football every day?

Not to speak for Sean, but I think over the last six months — our bond has always been really special, we’ve always been like brothers and traveled together, vacationed together, spent a lot of time together — but over the last six months we haven’t, just because he’s been getting married, I’ve been traveling myself. But I would say our friendship and brotherhood is even stronger than ever. There’s been a lot of cool conversations that really, if you think of it the way I see it, in some ways the coach/player relationship actually restricted us from certain levels of our friendship, at times. Now, with that out of the way, we can just be brothers. We’re not player to coach, coach to player anymore at all. It’s even better because we have even deeper conversations about what is really important in life, in football, from a scheme and approach standpoint — and just in life, all of the things that are really important about relationships and people.

OK, so tell me more about this project with Pepsi.

When you retire, you’re looking for all of the different ways you can stay involved with the game. I had gone through the whole ringer of working with the Rams, or wanting to get into the media space, get involved in that way. … This Pepsi concept got brought to me, it was like, “Hey, they’d love to have you do this.” It just resonated, hit home, because probably for the last five years of my career I probably spent many a training camp — when you’re miserable, before you get into the fun of the real games — you’re just like, “God, I can’t wait until I’m just not here one August of my life.” … That week, where am I gonna watch the game? What am I gonna do, am I gonna play golf? Hiking? Whatever it is, you think about that. So they come up with, “Hey, we have this 18 Week Pack” that’s basically gonna be the ultimate game-day experience, where you’re gonna watch the game and have everything from the fridge, to food, stadium speakers. … You’re gonna have this all-time game day experience. I was like, “This is literally what I’ve been thinking about for about five years now,” so it matched up perfectly.