The LSU Tigers will be represented by Andrew Whitworth in the 2024 SEC Legends Class. The SEC legends celebration will take place on December 6th, at the College Football Hall of Fame located in Atlanta, Georgia. The celebration will take place one day prior to the SEC Championship game being played, which Whitworth will certainly hope his Tigers are playing in.
Andrew Whitworth was a four-year starter at LSU, from 2001-05. During his time playing for the Tigers, he would receive many accolades. He received Freshman All-American honors in 2002 and was named, First Team All-SEC his final two seasons and was named Second Team All-American in 2005. Whitworth would also be a part of the LSU Tigers 2003 National Championship team, led by then Head Coach Nick Saban.
Andrew Whitworth was part of a signing class that brought the LSU Tigers back into the national spotlight and put them firmly back on top in the SEC. He helped lead them to their first national title in 45 years, when they won the BCS National Championship in 2003. Whitworth would never miss a game in college, playing 52 straight games for the LSU Tigers.
Andrew Whitworth’s NFL Career
Whitworth would enter the 2006 NFL Draft and be selected in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals. He would play for the Bengals a total of eleven seasons before signing with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. Becoming one of the first major free agent signings under new Head Coach Sean McVay. After just one season Whitworth would find himself playing in the Super Bowl. The 2018 Los Angeles Rams had one of the most effective offensive units to date, led by quarterback Jared Goff and talented running back Todd Gurley. Unfortunately, the Rams would fail to score a single touchdown in that game, losing to Tom Brady and the Patriots 13-3.
The Los Angeles Rams would later go all in on making it back to the championship game. Trading for quarterback Mathew Stafford, among other veteran talents such as Von Miller. Going into the 2021 season Andrew Whitworth’s career was coming to a close. The former LSU legend would have one last chance at a championship. Whitworth would be a key part of the Rams success that season, protecting Stafford’s blindside. The Rams would once again be going to the Super Bowl, but this time Whitworth would be facing off against the team that drafted him. The team he called home for eleven years, the Cincinatti Bengals. The Bengals were led by fellow LSU stars in Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
Entering the Super Bowl, Whitworth would become the oldest offensive lineman to start a world championship game at the age of 40. The stage was set, facing off against his former team one last time. The game would be a back-and-forth heavyweight battle, but by the end the Los Angeles Rams would secure the victory 23-20. Andrew Whitworth was finally a Super Bowl champion.
Throughout Whitworth’s NFL career, he would be named First Team All-Pro twice, and Second Team All-Pro once. Whitworth was selected to four pro bowls during his career. In 2021, Whitworth would win the most prestigious award the NFL has to offer, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. An award that celebrates a player’s community impact and excellence not only on the field but off it. He would become the first player in Ram’s history to ever win the award. Whitworth would ride off into the sunset retiring from playing after the Rams’ Super Bowl victory. Whitworth is now an analyst on Amazon’s Thursday Night Football.
