Rams OT Andrew Whitworth Leaning Towards Retirement, But Needs More Time

On the Dan Le Batard Show, Rams OT Andrew Whitworth said he is leaning towards retirement, but wants more time to make sure it is the right decision.

“You want to give it time. In a couple weeks I’ll sit down and make an official decision of some kind, but you’ve got to get enough separation,” Whitworth said. “The truth is now we’re only a week and a half from the game. So, getting a couple weeks from the game, making sure you feel how you feel, how your body feels, whether you want to attack another season or not I think you’ve got to give a little bit of separation. Unfortunately, when you have a really long season like we did, you don’t have as much time, but you get as much as you can away from it and see where you’re at.”

Whitworth, 40, spent his first 11 years with the Bengals before signing with the Rams in 2017. He finally secured his first Super Bowl victory this season with Los Angeles against his old team.

He also took home this year's NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his work in communities all over the country.

Whitworth said what he will miss the most is the camaraderie that comes with playing in the NFL, and competing with a team for one singular goal.

“The one thing I’ll miss if this is it, which it most likely is, playing football was fun, man,” he said. “Competing, throwing your body around, out there with a bunch of people, everyone with the same goal, a bunch of different backgrounds, a bunch of different people who come from all over the place and you’ve got one common goal you’re fighting for.”

As Whitworth most likely heads into retirement, he acknowledges how unlikely it is that he will find something like playing in the NFL again.

“That brotherhood will be so rare and something you’ll have a hard time ever finding again. It was amazing and so much fun and I loved every moment of it.”

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