Tag: Andrew Whitworth

Sean McVay can’t wait to watch – and evaluate – Andrew Whitworth’s broadcasting debut

Andrew Whitworth might be analyzing the Rams on Saturday, but Sean McVay will be evaluating Big Whit, too

Andrew Whitworth will have a different job this summer than the one he grew accustomed to. Rather than watching his teammates from the sideline during preseason games, he’ll be up in the booth evaluating his former peers as a broadcaster.

Whitworth will join the Rams’ broadcast team, alongside Andrew Siciliano and Mina Kimes, for their three preseason games, beginning on Saturday night when the Rams take on the Chargers. Sean McVay, who coached Whitworth for five seasons, is looking forward to watching the former left tackle’s broadcast debut afterwards, and he’ll also be critiquing Whitworth on how he does.

“No question,” McVay said of whether he’ll watch the broadcast back and evaluate Whitworth. “He’s got his house set up, he’s got the film, he’s ready to really evaluate. And I’m gonna be evaluating his broadcast skills.”

Whitworth didn’t play in preseason games for the Rams and he got plenty of days off from practice during training camp, so he might be even busier now that he’s retired compared to what he was doing in recent summers.

“He’s naturally a grinder. I think he knows more about the roster than I do right now,” McVay joked. “He’ll do a great job. You guys know from spending time with him, whether it’s with our broadcast team, whether it’s with Amazon, I think he’s one of those guys that whatever he decides to do, it’s gonna be a real good move and I’m excited about watching the big fella on TV.”

McVay and Whitworth have remained close following the latter’s retirement, and they’ll likely be friends for a long, long time. And who knows, maybe we’ll even see Whitworth working on McVay’s staff down the line.

Andrew Whitworth will be in the booth for Rams’ preseason opener vs. Chargers

Andrew Whitworth is set to join the Rams’ preseason booth in the team’s preseason opener versus the Chargers.

Andrew Whitworth retired as a member of the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, but he’s remained close to the team. With the Rams set to begin their preseason schedule against the Los Angeles Chargers this upcoming weekend, Whitworth will be joining the booth alongside NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano and ESPN’s Mina Kimes.

Siciliano and Kimes have called preseason games for the Rams in previous years, however, Whitworth will be making his booth debut on Saturday. The retired offensive lineman will unquestionably be able to give some interesting insight into the team he spent the final five years of his career with.

When the Rams opened training camp, Whitworth appeared, seemingly putting his coaching hat on to aid the younger guys in the trenches and reconnect with some of his former teammates. Besides the recent news of Whitworth helping call the Rams’ preseason opener versus the Chargers, Whitworth will also be joining Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football crew this season.

Following Whitworth’s retirement announcement, the All-Pro offensive tackle made it clear that he wanted to remain involved with football after his playing career. And luckily for us, he’ll get a chance to show off his commentating chops for the Rams this weekend.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqby8n025panb709 player_id=none image=https://theramswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Jonah Williams impressing Andrew Whitworth and others at Bengals training camp

The Bengals LT has had a solid opening to training camp.

[mm-video type=video id=01g8xq9xg2v53xm113zz playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g8xq9xg2v53xm113zz/01g8xq9xg2v53xm113zz-3ec0f433478cb46a844a339f334ef3d7.jpg]

Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams is a guy the team hopes to see keep ascending as he enters his age-24 season.

Based on the early returns in training camp that’s something that could unfold quickly.

Williams looked especially good this week in reps against the likes of the returning Joseph Ossai and star edge defender Trey Hendrickson — two pass-rushers who undermine the idea this is some sort of exaggeration about Williams because everyone “looks good” in camp early.

So much so, Bengals great and now-retired left tackle Andrew Whitworth took to social media to praise one of Williams’ reps:

It’s a little thing, but a notable one for Williams, who had his best season as a pro last year in what was technically only his second season on the field after missing his entire rookie year. If he keeps reaching toward the upper limits of his potential that made him a first-rounder at the same time the rest of the line finds stability via upgrades, Joe Burrow should have plenty of time to put up big numbers.

[listicle id=151420]

Andrew Whitworth dropped by Rams training camp Wednesday

Andrew Whitworth may not play for the Rams anymore, but he hasn’t gone very far

Andrew Whitworth will start a new career this season as an analyst for Amazon during the network’s Thursday Night Football coverage, his first gig since retiring from the NFL this offseason. And even though he’s no longer on the team, Whitworth has remained close to the Rams this summer.

He made an appearance at OTAs earlier this year, and on Wednesday, he dropped by training camp at UC Irvine. He was rocking a Rams T-shirt and still looked as big and strong as ever, absolutely towering over Sean McVay on the field.

McVay has left the door open for Whitworth to work with the team in some capacity, so hopefully that comes to fruition at some point in the future.

Andrew Whitworth joined Twitter and had a funny reaction to an old HS football clip

Andrew Whitworth is now on Twitter and he had a funny reaction to a clip of his high school football days

It’s been a big week for Rams players – both current and former – joining social media. First, Matthew Stafford made an Instagram account and immediately flexed with a post of the Rams’ Super Bowl ring. Then, Andrew Whitworth hopped on Twitter, which is perfect timing now that he’s in line to be a broadcaster on Thursday Night Football.

Whitworth will be a great follow on Twitter, and he’s already firing off some great tweets. On Wednesday, he responded to an old clip from his high school football days, making a nice grab down the seam as a tight end.

Whitworth looks like he was the biggest guy on the field, and tackling him back then was probably like a 5-foot-8 cornerback trying to bring down Gronk in his prime.

Andrew Whitworth: Sean McVay studies film of himself speaking to the team

Andrew Whitworth once caught Sean McVay watching film of a team meeting and grading himself on how he delivered messages to players

NFL coaches spend hours upon hours watching film. They study draft prospects, they analyze their own players, they watch opponents.

But Sean McVay is different. He watches film of himself directing a team meeting. He breaks down the way he talks to his players, wondering whether he’s doing a good job delivering messages he wants to convey.

It’s just the latest anecdote that shows how hard McVay works at not only being a good coach, but a great leader. Andrew Whitworth shared the story of the first time he found McVay watching film of himself in his office after everyone had already gone home.

“One of the most impressive things I always tell people just to know who Sean McVay is, is after the first three or four months I was with him with the Rams, we were out here at our facility,” Whitworth began on the “3 & Out” podcast. “I’m coming in, a lot of times I’m trying to get to know people in the building, and he’s kind of giving me – ‘Hey man, I would love to talk ball with you anytime while you’re here in the offseason and get a feel for things, whether it be culture, leadership, being in front of the room.’ I’m like, ‘All right, great.’ And so we started meeting and I go in one afternoon, probably two weeks after OTAs and he’s sitting in his office at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, everybody’s long gone, and he’s watching film of himself speaking to us as a team. So he has literally videoed all of our team meetings and he’s evaluating and grading himself on his ability to communicate his message on what was correct or incorrect about something he may or may not have said. I thought that was so rare that this guy’s humble enough to be like, ‘I’m not just gonna say that everything I say is great, or think that everything I do is wonderful. I’m gonna evaluate myself and how I speak and whether my messaging, if I was sitting in that room, would I listen to this guy?’”

Whitworth was so impressed by the awareness McVay showed, being willing to spend time watching and analyzing himself in a team meeting. It’s hard to imagine McVay being bad at holding meetings and getting the most out of his players, but the fact that he goes this far to be the best coach he can be is remarkable.

“To have that kind of awareness to realize how important every time he stood in front of his men, because what a rare opportunity that is as an NFL head coach,” Whitworth continued. “You better treasure it because those moments are where you’re gonna spread your message. … Those are the moments that are gonna decide the success level of your team because guys are gonna buy in or not.”

McVay has said he won’t be a “lifer” when it comes to coaching, and he doesn’t plan to do this until he’s 60 or 70 like many other coaches. But for the time that he does coach, he’s going to put everything into it.

[listicle id=671338]

Thursday Night Football broadcast adds Andrew Whitworth, Aqib Talib

Thursday Night Football adds talent to its broadcast roster, including Andrew Whitworth

Amazon Prime Video is filling out its broadcast dance card as it heads toward its first season of NFL “Thursday Night Football” coverage.

On Thursday, fittingly, it was announced Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib have signed on as contributors for pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage.

Additionally, Kaylee Hartung has been hired as a sideline reporter.

Prime Video’s regular-season debut as the exclusive home of the primetime package comes on Sept. 15 when Kansas City plays host to the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I was really excited when I got a chance to kind of get a little bit of a vision of what they want to do — to be a little innovative and change it up and create a new and exciting experience,” said Whitworth, who retired after winning the Super Bowl with the Rams last season. “It was right there with who I am in creating a culture and an atmosphere and really an experience.”

Amazon hires Andrew Whitworth, Aqib Talib to Thursday Night Football team

Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib will officially be part of Amazon’s Thursday Night Football coverage

Andrew Whitworth and Aqib Talib will officially be part of Amazon’s new Thursday Night Football coverage this season. Amazon announced Thursday that it has added Whitworth and Talib to its crew.

They won’t be play-by-play analysts – those roles are reserved for Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstriet – but they will be in the studio for pregame analysis, halftime coverage and the postgame recap.

Richard Sherman, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Gonzalez will also be part of the studio crew on Thursday Night Football.

Below are the official announcements from Amazon.

Whitworth spent five years with the Rams from 2017-2021, helping them win the Super Bowl last season. He made one Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro once with the Rams, both coming in 2017. He spent 16 total seasons in the NFL and retired just this offseason.

Talib was with the Rams in 2018 and 2019, reaching Super Bowl LIII with them, which they lost to the Patriots. He entered the NFL in 2008 as a first-round pick with the Bucs and played his last game in 2019.

Andrew Whitworth will work Bengals Ring of Honor ceremony — with Amazon

Andrew Whitworth will work the primetime game where the Bengals enshrine Willie Anderson and others.

[mm-video type=video id=01g68qmx5frptcghjre0 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g68qmx5frptcghjre0/01g68qmx5frptcghjre0-272c2020142a68dfcfbca117a23c5d0e.jpg]

Cincinnati Bengals great Andrew Whitworth will just so happen to be at the team’s 2022 Ring of Honor ceremony this season.

The ceremony takes place in primetime during the team’s “Thursday Night Football” game against the Miami Dolphins on September 29. Whitworth will help call that game as part of Amazon’s presentation package.

Willie Anderson, one of the four announced members of the franchise’s second Ring of Honor class, revealed this fun nugget while also saying that Whitworth was quick to text and congratulate him once he was announced as an inductee.

Whitworth retired this offseason after the Super Bowl win with the Rams and joined Amazon.

ESPN’s Ben Baby grabbed the details:

Whitworth’s an interesting conversation with Bengals fans after his somewhat-ugly split from the team in free agency after apparent low-ball offers. He went on to join the Rams and play at a very high level, besides winning the Super Bowl. Whether he’ll go in either team’s Ring, let alone potentially the Hall of Fame, remains up for debate.

Either way, he’ll get to share in the special moment of Anderson, one of four franchise legends getting enshrined soon.

[listicle id=151021]

Joe Noteboom works out at Andrew Whitworth’s house ‘all the time’

Joe Noteboom and Andrew Whitworth have remained close, working out together at Whitworth’s place “all the time”

Andrew Whitworth is passing the torch at left tackle this year after announcing his retirement from the NFL. The Rams didn’t have to look very long or far for his replacement, simply re-signing Joe Noteboom to a three-year deal.

Though Whitworth isn’t on the roster anymore, he remains close to the team and its players – specifically the offensive linemen.

Whitworth often has the Rams’ big men over to his house for workouts in his garage, which players call “The Dojo.” It was a routine they started when Whitworth turned his garage into a workout room during the pandemic, helping keep himself and his teammates in shape.

Entering the 2022 season, Noteboom still goes to Whitworth’s house to work out “all the time.” And Whitworth loves grinding with him in the gym, anticipating a strong year from the young lineman.

“The O-line still comes over here and trains with me at my place and so it’s fun to be with those guys and see what they’re up to,” Whitworth said on The Volume’s “3 & Out” podcast. “I’m not gonna lie, there’s some days you get in there with them and you’re getting after it and you get that feeling of what it was like being in the locker room and being around the guys and grinding towards a goal. It’s definitely a special environment. I don’t think that really changes whether you’re playing or not. Once you’ve experienced it, you’ll always miss that a little bit. But it’s fun to see them kind of in that mode of taking that next step. Joseph Noteboom is one of those guys, and he’s gonna replace me there with the Rams. He’s here all the time at my place training and it’s fun to watch him grind and he’s chasing his dream and what he’s looking forward to doing. Couldn’t be happier to support him and can’t wait to watch him do his thing.”

Noteboom has had the chance to learn from Whitworth for the last four years since joining the Rams as a third-round pick in 2018. He probably anticipated taking over the left tackle spot earlier than this year, but when Whitworth’s been out, Noteboom has done an excellent job filling in.

The Rams hope that continues on a full-time basis this season and next, which is why they gave him an extension to remain on the roster – and a raise to $13.3 million per year.