From 2006 to '21, longtime tackle Andrew Whitworth was in the NFL's trenches, consistently turning out excellent offensive line play for good and bad teams.
Now, three years into his role as a panelist on Amazon's Thursday Night Football production, Whitworth finds himself in a decidedly different position.
"I'm now the quarterback over there on the TV side, and the offensive linemen are the ones behind the camera," Whitworth told SI in a Tuesday interview promoting his recent partnership with Tide. "So now I get a little feel of the real world, right? I lived the O-line life for a long time, and now I'm in the 'QB-line.'"
With the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, Whitworth was named first-team All-Pro in 2015 and 2017. He made the Pro Bowl in 2012, '15, '16, and '17, and won the Super Bowl with the Rams in his final season (Los Angeles's SoFi Stadium, in fact, was the setting for his stain-removal collaboration).
"Something I’ve always wanted to do as a player," Whitworth said of the partnership. "When you’re playing, you’re jealous of the time they’re having tailgating so to be able to see what a gameday looks like for Rams fans, and enjoy tailgating, I jumped at the opportunity!"
When his playing career ended, Whitworth made a seamless media transition to positive reviews—one that changed his perspective on the television side of football and gave him the visibility to undertake commercial endeavors such as this one.
"What we do in front of the camera, I'll be honest, that's easy," Whitworth said. "If you watch the games, which I do, if you're passionate about football and watch every game, and you pay attention to the narratives that go with every team—what we do is easy... The people on the other side of the camera are working their butts off, and I got a lot of respect for them."
As year three passes its halfway point, the Thursday Night Football crew has had a juicy matchup dropped into its lap this coming Thursday. The Washington Commanders are set to visit the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that will determine control of the NFC East race.
Asked to single out an X-factor for each team, Whitworth pointed to Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and the play of the Eagles' linemen.
"Has Kliff Kingsbury evolved? Obviously, we've seen the offense has evolved with the success they've been having this year," Whitworth said. "We also know the history of his time as a coach with Texas Tech, with (the Arizona Cardinals), the second half of seasons has been a struggle, and they've not played well...
"There's a real reason (Philadelphia is) winning, and the reason is because this O-line and D-line's been dominating," he continued. "Those big fellas up front, they've invested a lot in them, and since the bye week, they've shown why, and they've got to continue to do that."
Assessing the season at large, Whitworth pointed to the consensus choice when asked to pick the current MVP frontrunner: Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
"The truth is he's continued to show that there's just no part of his game that he can't learn how to dominate," Whitworth said. "He's just continued to get better, and he's continued to improve every part of his game. He can beat you with his feet. He can beat you with his arm in the pocket... The guy is just a really special football player."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as 'TNF' Analyst Andrew Whitworth Talks Commanders-Eagles X-Factors, MVP Race.
