Andrew Whitworth quickly became a leader in the Rams’ locker room when he joined L.A. in 2017, being voted a captain and being nominated for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
This year, he’s been nominated for the USAA Salute to Service Award, which recognizes players and members of the NFL who best support and honor the military community. It’s easy to see why the Rams chose Whitworth, given all his work in the community and leadership off the field.
“As soon as Andrew Whitworth joined the Rams organization, he made an immediate impact in the community, including with the military members and veterans living in the Los Angeles region. Last season, through our All-Community Team ticket program, Andrew purchased 50 tickets for every home game and donated the tickets to military organizations such as USC Veterans group, Merging Vets and Players (MVP) and a variety of local military bases. Whitworth, who has a strong relationship with Merging Vets & Players’ co-founders, Jay Glazer and Nate Boyer, spends much of his offseason training with some of M.V.P vets at Unbreakable performance gym in Hollywood and even represented M.V.P. during the 2017 and 2018 ‘My Cause My Cleats’ campaign. Last year, Andrew joined M.V.P co-founder, Nate Boyer, and two veterans with ties to Hollywood Veteran Center, a homeless shelter strictly for veterans, in a conversation about why he is so strongly connected to helping veterans and in turn, the veterans shared their stories and how much they owe to the Hollywood Veterans Center. The conversation was followed by a tour of the veterans shelter where Andrew was able to interact with residents and finished with a surprise ticket donation for our Salute to Service game. Most recently, Andrew joined Merging Vets and Players (MVP) and others including Jay Glazer, Michael Strahan, Tony Gonzalez, Dean Cain and Chamique Holdsclaw for a virtual fundraiser to raise $100,000 for veterans and athletes impacted by COVID-19.”
Finalists for the award will be named in January, and will recognize the winner at the NFL Honors show the week before the Super Bowl. Former Chargers and Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards received the award last year, and in 2018, it went to Ben Garland.