Andrew Whitworth, Super Bowl Champion Left Tackle

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See additional terms at OnePeloton.com. Andrew Whitworth joined the Prime Video Thursday Night Football team this year, bringing his Super Bowl Championship insight to the field, pre-game, and post-game show each week. Andrew joins us now on the Zach Yelp Show on CBS Sports Radio to talk about his rookie year as a broadcaster, what to look for in the final Thursday Night Football matchups of the year, and his prediction on which teams have what it takes to lift the Lombardi Trophy.

Andrew Whitworth, appreciate the time. How are you? I'm doing great, man. Appreciate you. Now, I hope you appreciate my style because you have perfected the sweatshirt and then also sports coat on Amazon Video.

How do you rate this? You know what? I love anybody that's going to come with a little bit of that swag right there. So, you know, it's one of those things.

Look, I'd just be in myself. You know, people want to ask, you know, why are you wearing that? What was the idea behind it? You know, I think for me it was just, this is how I'm most comfortable, how a train is with a hoodie. I always am rocking a hoodie at the facility when I was playing. And so, you know what? They say, go be yourself on the desk. Said, hey, can I wear a hoodie? Because that's who I am.

And they were all for it. So it's been a lot of fun to, you get to do something that brings a lot of attention, you know, good and bad. It's been hilarious just to see the different reactions across, you know, social media and the league to the outfit that I'm rocking every week. Well, it's great stuff.

And it's good to not have a button up broadcaster when you're watching football. And I'm enjoying it in my sweat pants. So pretty much you should be comfortable as well. How do you kind of reflect on year one with the entire crew on this new venture? It's been so much fun.

I mean, when you walk out of the game of football, I mean, you hear so many former players talk about, you know, losing your team and losing that locker room and how you feel lonely and you feel apart from things. And to be a part of this crew with Carissa and Ryan and Tony and Sherm and Taylor and Michael Smith and our whole pregame, you know, halftime postgame group. It's been so much fun just getting to be together on the road. The camaraderie you build that new team now of people that's become family. I mean, you're together all the time. You're going through your week together and the different things that are going on in your lives off the off the field and off the desk. And so you start to build a whole new team. And that's been so exciting and fun.

Even the people not on air are producers and everybody behind the scenes. It's been fun to be that road group that's going together like a traveling circus and having a great time, just spending time together and finding new ways to cover the game. Well, it gives you your football fix clearly, and that's something every former football player needs. But do you still miss it? Is it still something when you're at those games, you're like, man, I could still play in the NFL? You know, I think sometimes I do have a feeling like I could still play, but I don't have any interest in playing.

I mean, for me, I played, you know, up until over 40 years old. I played a ton of football games and had a lot of fun doing it. But I'm having so much fun just covering the game, being a fan. I've never watched more games, been more inspired to watch games each and every week. I just I have literally been so excited to turn the TV on and watch people play and follow the game like never before.

So I love where I'm at. And I don't miss bull rushes and piled and scrums at all. If you were still in the huddle and you have the Jets and the Jaguars this Thursday night and you're an offensive lineman and Zach Wilson is thrown right into a controversy because of his own doing and his wrongdoing, just how would you kind of view your quarterback? I know he's your teammate, but it seems like he's ruffled a lot of feathers in that locker room. Well, I think, you know, it wouldn't be about the huddle.

It'd be about the week in the process to get there. You know, it'd be about sitting down with him as a veteran player and helping him understand the situation he's in. You know, I was in that a lot with Jerry Goff and his really rise to who he is today and being in the huddles with him. And the moments really that mattered were from Monday to Saturday and really spending time getting to know him, understanding how he ticks and maybe what drives him and maybe what he misses or doesn't, understands or doesn't understand.

And so I think it's really that relationship and making sure you have it. You look at that offensive line, they've had a lot of people in and out of the lineup. They've had, you know, Dwayne Brown is kind of the leader of their group, a guy who's been a leader his whole career, but he didn't get there until this training camp. So, you know, my thing is, when you look offensively at them, who's the leader on offense who's really able to help guide him and be there for him through this process?

I don't know that you can say, hey, there's been somebody that's got a lot of invested time with them. And that's tough. I mean, that is really tough on a young quarterback to not have that guy in your group that's like, man, this is who I go to for these situations.

And so I think for him, it's been a challenge. But that if I was in that huddle, it'd be about how can I find ways to spend some time with him, get to know him and find ways that I can help him be at his best and be most consistent each and every week. Andrew Rickworth's here with us. For you, your former team, two of them, obviously the Bengals and the Rams. But let's talk about the one that you most recently played for, the Rams. As you know, won the Super Bowl last year. And this year, a pileup of injuries, obviously having to replace people like yourself on the offensive line, then dealing with injuries up front. Stafford said the other day on his wife's podcast, Kelly Stafford, that he's going to be coming back and playing next year.

For you, how far away do you think they are? Because this has been a miserable season. You know, it's been a really tough year for them. I mean, I think, you know, historic numbers when it comes to injuries along the offensive line.

And then now it just seems like every week it's a new thing, right? A new guy goes down and just, you know, really hard to keep fighting through stuff like that. So but I think when you really look at their team and the guys that are there, Sean McVeigh, that talent level of guys they have that are their leaders, they'll find a way next year. They'll be healthier. They'll be able to regroup.

They'll find a way to be competitive again. You know, obviously it wasn't as much. But in 2019, right after our Super Bowl that we lost to New England, we had a down year that year to miss the playoffs.

Wasn't as bad as this. We didn't have the injury rate they've had, but could have been that way. And then came back and really built that rise to the next year, making the playoffs, winning a playoff game. And then obviously we know what happened last year. So I just see this group finding a way to get themselves back in playoff contention next year.

I believe will happen. I'm more disappointed that Kelly hasn't asked me to be on the podcast yet. It's a good point.

Like, you know, Matthew's been multiple times. I get it. It's her husband. But when does a big win get to come on the Kelly Stafford podcast? That's what I want to know. Maybe she thinks you're high in demand these days at the Amazon gig.

Maybe she's afraid to ask. Wrapping up with Andrew Whitworth, Jaguars in line. Just want to get your two thoughts on those two teams right now, because both of them are making playoff pushes. Yeah, I think it's really fun to see, you know, teams that are really hot in the NFL, right? I mean, I think this time of year, it's always interesting, like, how the season goes. You've got teams that will separate themselves early and that you kind of like, hey, man, this is going to be a team that wins the Super Bowl because of how they've played the first 8, 10, 12 weeks of the season. And then you always have some team there at the end where you're like, wow, this team is rolling right now. You know, who will be the team that stops them?

I think that's interesting for both the Lions and the Jets. It's like, hey, all right, offensively, these teams are rolling it defensively. They're finally starting to play a little bit of complementary football and be able to help them stay in these games. You know, but who is it that they're going to run into that can stop them or can they just keep building?

And do they have the ability to keep doing that? I think one interesting thing for the Jaguars is going to be losing Cam Robinson, because any time you lose a veteran o lineman who's a really good football player, and I'm guessing probably one of the guys that room leans on a lot and Cam, it's going to be challenging because you've got a young tackle coming in and Walker Little. And you know what? Trevor Lawrence is on fire. But, you know, we can stop the quarterbacks on fire and that's pressure in his face and him getting hit when he's trying to throw the football.

So how will that really derail them? And then that Lions offense, man, that O-line deserves some credit for how well they've played. Last thing I'll ask you, I know you got to run Andrew Whitworth here with us, Amazon Prime Video. What's your Super Bowl prediction with three weeks left in the season? Man, I think, you know, for me, it really comes down to Philly and the Niners and the NFC Championship.

I think that's going to be the two teams there. And I think Brock Purdy's shown that he can get them wins and he could do enough to just play the quarterback position well enough to get them. But I think what's going to be tough is when you match those two rosters against each other, there's a little bit of a lean in the skill positions towards probably the Eagles at wide receiver. And then at quarterback position, you'd have to say, you know, that season Jalen Hurts has had, if he's healthy, him versus Brock Purdy, the Eagles win that matchup big time. So I just think that the Eagles will find a way to get there and then find a way to get themselves in the Super Bowl. And then the AFC, I think it really comes down to the Bills, Bengals and Chiefs since which young dynamic quarterback do you want to go with and roll with? And I like complimentary football, so I'm always going to lean to that, even though I hate to ever go against my homes. I just think that the Bengals and Bills both have shown that their defenses can help them win a game as well. And I think this Bengals have sneakily put themselves in a position to maybe return to the Super Bowl.

So I think that might be my matchup, Philly and Cincinnati. Well, appreciate you taking a few minutes today, Andrew Whitworth. Make sure you check them out for the final two weeks of Amazon Prime Video. We appreciate it and good luck the rest of the way. I appreciate it.

Thank you all for the time. Many of us are already planning our New Year's resolutions to work out more in 2023. But let's face it, they rarely stick. Well, Peloton's got a gift for you. Get up to $200 off accessories like non-slip grip dumbbells, cycling shoes, heart rate monitors and more with the purchase of a Peloton bike, bike plus or tread.

Don't wait. Get this offer before it ends on December 25th. Visit One Peloton dot com. All access membership separate offer ends December 25th.

Cannot be combined with other offers. See additional terms at One Peloton dot com. Many of us are already planning our New Year's resolutions to work out more in 2023.

But let's face it, they rarely stick. Well, Peloton's got a gift for you. Get up to $200 off accessories like non-slip grip dumbbells, cycling shoes, heart rate monitors and more with the purchase of a Peloton bike, bike plus or tread.

Don't wait. Get this offer before it ends on December 25th. Visit One Peloton dot com. All access membership separate offer ends December 25th.

Cannot be combined with other offers. See additional terms at One Peloton dot com. Many of us are already planning our New Year's resolutions to work out more in 2023.

But let's face it, they rarely stick. Well, Peloton's got a gift for you. Get up to $200 off accessories like non-slip grip dumbbells, cycling shoes, heart rate monitors and more with the purchase of a Peloton bike, bike plus or tread.

Don't wait. Get this offer before it ends on December 25th. Visit One Peloton dot com. All access membership separate offer ends December 25th. Cannot be combined with other offers. See additional terms at One Peloton dot com.