Andrew Whitworth Talks Super Bowl, Sean McVay, Retirement, Cincy & Carson Palmer

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find After 16 years in the NFL, All Pro and Super Bowl Champion Andrew Whitworth is finally hanging up his cleats. The 2021 Walter Payton Man Of The Year recipient, sits down with Ryan, Fred and Channing as the guys talk about how Whitworth did not leave any stone unturned throughout his professional football career, excelling on and off the field starting 235 out of 240 games. Ryan and Whit jokingly bond over their Louisiana roots and sharing a common friend in the Lombardi trophy while a salty Fred and Channing can only admire from a distance. Whitworth goes into great detail about Sean McVay and what makes him a great coach, noting that he's known for being an offensive guru, but Whit says that is almost a disservice to who he really is because what makes him rare is his ability to lead on all fronts and in tough situations. "He's one of one," Whit says, describing his former head coach. He goes on to explain how McVay was the core to uniting so many big personalities and widespread talent on the Rams Super Bowl team. Opening up about leaving Cincinnati, Whitworth reveals how he wrote a personal letter to owner Mike Brown, expressing his gratitude while looking for a way to work out a fair deal for him to play out his career with the Bengals. Despite what it seemed on the outside and to fans, the response from that letter is what eventually led Whitworth to join the Rams. Whit describes how he didn't want to be perceived as deserting the organization or compared to his former quarterback and teammate Carson Palmer for an abrupt exit and talks about how Palmer’s move ultimately soured the two’s relationship. Channing questions how a big offensive lineman lands Miss Louisiana as his wife and what the action in the bedroom is like after winning a super bowl. The guys pivot the conversation into marriage and family life as they talk about the example as men they set for their children and the values instilled no matter race, religion, skin color are important. Retiring as a Bengal or Ram, Whit said he’s uncertain yet but jokes he was waiting to see if he can get on the Eric Weddle plan of playing 3 games and a Super Bowl. Closing out the conversation, Fred rolls off all the accolades Whit has achieved in his long NFL tenure as the guys are in agreement that his day in Canton as a future hall of famer should be locked in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Well, the finals are set. We got the Celtics versus the Warriors. And we are set up in L.A. Ready to do a great show with former LSU Tiger and Super Bowl champion Andrew Whitworth. But before we get to that, let's talk a little bit about prize picks. Available in almost 75% of the states. We in the big ones too. Florida, California, Texas. And if you use the show code PIVOT, they'll match everything you put in up to $100. Bruh, that is free money. That's like betting on Michael Jordan back in the day that he ain't going to game seven in the finals. But stay tuned to the show and make sure whenever you make your picks on prize picks, you send them into the pivot and you can see how you fare against the guys. And along with me, you can beat Channing and Fred.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  Now, lock into Andrew Whitworth. But before you do that, lock into prize picks.

• 1:19Speaker 02

  What up, babe?

• 1:23Speaker 01

  What's up, man?

• 1:23Speaker 02

  What's good? Man, you can smell it every time I see you, man. Every time. That's that good life. What's up, dawg? You good?

• 1:29Ryan Clark?

  That's little Whitworth. That can't be little.

• 1:32Speaker 02

  This is how y'all do it in L.A., huh? It's the L.A. way. This is different, man. This ain't Cincinnati. A little different in Cincinnati. I think we ate lunch out of a closet when I first got there. So it's a little different.

• 2:05Ryan Clark?

  Big wit, man. Welcome to the Pivot. Obviously, we got Chan, Freaky Freddy. Happy Dad will thank our sponsor, Happy Dad. You know, I want y'all to go out, man, subscribe, like, whether it's YouTube, Apple, Spotify, all of them, man. All the support is greatly appreciated. But shoot, that's actually a good segue that I got to talk about Happy Dad. Because, you know, we always go over different ways to start these interviews and to start these, shoot, really just conversations. And I was bouncing around between all kinds of different things because I've known you since you were 16, 17 years old. And man, I can't get past the conversation you got to have with your kids after winning the Super Bowl. To be able to share that, man, with your children,

• 2:49Ryan Clark?

  for them to know that daddy's now going to be home. What was that moment like?

• 2:54Speaker 02

  You know, it was really special. Obviously, you got that crazy feeling, the confetti's falling. You see your teammates celebrating. Everybody's, you know, living their best life at that moment. And I kind of had this, just this quiet second where I was kind of sitting there and I was looking at all four of them. And I was like, you know what? This is as good a time as any. And I'm one of those people that, I guess just for me, I like to, that sometimes challenge myself. And I think that message was to them, but it was also to myself. Like, you know what? It's been about you for so long. Like, for my wife, all the things she's had to do to put up with just the craziness of chasing, wanting to be great in a sport, wanting to be great at what I do, wanting to be a great teammate, a culture leader, all these things, and all those sacrifices that, you know,

• 3:39Speaker 02

  you're sending even the other has to make when you have kids and a life and all of that. So it was like, you know what? I want to make sure these kids hear from me personally. Like, you know what? I got a chance to make this about y'all after this moment because I just got everything I could ever dream of playing this game. And I want you guys, no matter what your lane is, to know that I'm going to have your back the whole way, just like you just had mine.

• 4:01Ryan Clark?

  You knew before.

• 4:02Channing Crowder?

  That was it. Super Bowl was it. There was no question. There was nothing that would bring you back.

• 4:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, you know, for me, it's like I kept doing that every year. Like I'm, I'll keep riding because I feel good. And I finally got to the point where it really wasn't football that was making me tired. It was the process. Like I just getting from Monday to Sunday was getting so much harder. And it was making it to where I didn't enjoy the week. I just wanted to play in the game and it wasn't like, oh, man, I don't want to practice. It was like, I want to practice. I want to have fun practicing. Like I want to like prepare and enjoy myself and feel good. And it was to the point where it was, I could get to Sunday and feel okay as long as I didn't do anything else during the week. And that just wasn't, that wasn't living to me. It wasn't, it wasn't having fun. It was, it wasn't good enough for the young guys to see.

• 4:51Speaker 02

  Like I used to take pride in the young guys seeing, there's one way we do this thing. And that's how we gonna go about business all the time. And the only be able to really show that on Sundays, I think, started to eat at me. And so I knew when we got to the playoffs, I was like, you know what? This is it. It's the final ride. I'm gonna give it everything I got and I'm gonna hope this thing works out.

• 5:10Fred Taylor?

  16 years. How, how you feeling? Like, how do you really feel?

• 5:14Speaker 02

  Uh, there's obviously a lot of things that, that probably at some point are gonna have to get addressed. I'm probably still in denial about that a little bit. But, you know, I, I feel pretty good for the most part.

• 5:25Fred Taylor?

  Is it still the Super Bowl high? You still riding that wave? I mean?

• 5:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, it's so crazy. I always say like, I guess when you win one when you're young, I guess as a young player, I can't imagine what the feeling is going forward. Like it's not that you're not still chasing, but it's just a different feeling. But when you win one older, it's like, man, all right, look, I won the Super Bowl. It's amazing that I won it. But damn it, I gave everything I had to it. So I ain't got nothing left.

• 5:50Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 5:51Speaker 02

  Like that's it. That's all I had. So it's still amazing. It's unreal. It's hard to even think about. I had somebody the other day asked me, like I was on the golf course. And a guy was like, you know, hey, I saw Melissa and the kids during the game in the fourth quarter before y'all started that drive. Like she's in the back, like in the, you know, basically on the ground covering her face. And the kids are like antsy in the suite. And it like gave me anxiety. Like I was like. Damn, we win that, did we win the game? Like, it just, it made me think about it like that. I was like, whoa. I clearly like, I'm like, not over that moment yet.

• 6:23Fred Taylor?

  Right, right.

• 6:23Speaker 02

  Because it actually made me nervous, just hearing him kind of describe what my family looked like when he saw him watching the game.

• 6:29Ryan Clark?

  Man, you mentioned like the anxiety, you know, what, what your family's going through at the Super Bowl. I think sometimes, like, we don't even think of those things. And it's like, what they're going through is magnified when you're on the field. But, bro, you're in the Super Bowl. It's your last game, and you freaking playing Cincinnati. You know what I'm saying? That had to be like, two worlds come all the way back together. You know what I'm saying? You know, you take it, you take, the Rams go from St. Louis, they in L.A. Now you're playing in L.A. at SoFi, which by the way, is the most crazy structure I've ever been in. But you're playing against the Cincinnati Bengals. Was there ever a moment to you that everything felt like, you know what? This is what it's supposed to be.

• 7:13Ryan Clark?

  And even when you're down and you losing, like, you know, I don't, I don't really feel like I'm here to lose.

• 7:19Speaker 02

  I think the first time I had that feeling is actually when I watched Cincinnati make the kick against the Chiefs. When I saw them win that game, we were literally coming out the tunnel. Biggs are running on the field to get ready for our game against the Niners. And I was like, there is no way that I played there for 11 years and this team going to the Super Bowl and I'm not. There's no way it's about to happen. And so I just, I just had this feeling like, we, we gonna find a way to win this game. And we gonna play in the Super Bowl, and we'll see what happens. And sure enough, it all happens, and we're going to play them. And I get in that game. And what was crazy about it is I think I'd been removed enough to not really know a lot of the guys. So it wasn't as familiar to me.

• 8:03Speaker 02

  Plus, I had the chance that I played them two years earlier in London. So I'd kind of already gotten over that playing for the first time vibe where you have a lot of emotions. So I was able to really, truly just be focused on the moment. And it, it helped me to really not have to focus on what a special place that was to me for so long.

• 8:19Fred Taylor?

  Now, I want to ask you this, because you, you were there for 11 years. And, and I think around that time, you know, by many standards, most organizations will think, you know, he's, you know, he's past his prime. Did you walk away from that situation on a good note? And did that motivate you any differently for the Super Bowl when you faced them?

• 8:41Speaker 02

  I mean, I wouldn't say we walked around on a good note, no, for sure. It ended like, um, they had kind of made a decision the year before in the draft that they thought, probably going to be time to move on. And then I end up playing well, and it's a situation where I wanted to be treated that way. And it didn't happen. And, you know, I think the tough part is, is really, you know, for fans, they see the results. They see, all right, this guy leaves. But for me, it really wasn't free agency in 2017 that led to me leaving the Cincinnati Bengals. It was the draft in 2016. I had asked them to make me, not let me have to play the last year of my contract.

• 9:25Speaker 02

  Without having any clue on what's going next. And they returned my question with drafting a first round and a second round left tackle. I don't know how many teams in history have ever done that, but they did it. And that was their reply. And so I was not happy about it. And they kind of told me, look, you know, we want you to be the same leader you are, but this is the decision we made, which I could respect their release upfront about it. It still didn't mean I had to accept it. And so about mid-season that next year, the story most people don't know is I wrote Mike Brown a letter. And I said, look, I've, I've reached a point where I'm frustrated. And we're having an awesome start to our season. And the only thing I can think about is that for 10 years, I've done what I've done for you

• 10:10Speaker 02

  and been the leader you needed and captain and all this stuff. And now I'm at a point where I'm begging you to, to treat me right. And you know what? You have the choice to make the decision you made, but I got the choice too. And my choice is, at our bye week, I'll have made enough money to pay you back the prorated part of my contract. And I walk away and I don't have to think about this anymore. Or you can do the right thing and take care of me the way you should. And basically, he used response to my letter was, here's a one-year extension for, around the number you signed your last extension for. And if you want it, I think you're correct and you deserve that opportunity.

• 10:53Speaker 02

  So it took me a minute and I went back to him and I respected that one, he was honest with me from the front and then two, that he was willing to admit like, you know what, I probably didn't handle it the best way and you definitely deserved that opportunity. And so I signed the one-year extension mainly because my family needed it and it was what's best for us. And so I did it. And I think sometimes cats talk about hustling and all this type of stuff. And to me, hustling comes in a lot of different forms and getting what's best for me and mine was what I thought was the best thing I could do to hustle. So I did it.

• 11:26Channing Crowder?

  Wait, that's not normal.

• 11:28Speaker 02

  Did you write the owner?

• 11:29Channing Crowder?

  To write the owner, you, a handwritten letter?

• 11:32Speaker 02

  I did.

• 11:33Channing Crowder?

  That's not normal. Like, what, what, what, what, what were you trying to get across? Like, I've never heard somebody write the owner. Bro, there's a head coach, the GM, there's people to make this decision with. You wrote the owner a letter and told him that you feel disrespect. You told him your side of it. Like, why, why, why that? Why do you think that was gonna work?

• 11:53Speaker 02

  Because I think at the end of the day, we can all play the game, but there's one guy that's really deciding on whether you're getting your check or not. And, uh, the money man, the guy with the money. And so I felt like all the things we've been through in our time in Cincinnati, I mean, there's obviously, it's, it's not as glamorous at times as other organizations. Rightfully so, I get it. It's their, their only family business. But there's a lot of things you have to overcome, a lot of adversities, a lot of times I'd stood up for the organization, a lot of times I'd stood up for tough things that had gone on, whether it be guys wanting to leave the organization or tough things that we'd kind of gotten ourselves in the middle of and, and players and different things that had struggled. And so I felt like I'd always been there for them. I'd always stood up for them and I'd always mentored and took care of every guy that ever came

• 12:37Speaker 02

  in that building. I mean, I think I had four or five rookies that lived with me their first year in the NFL because I would offer them a room, take care of them, you know, love on them. So I felt like I'd always gone above and beyond. And so in this one instance, you're telling me just because you don't have a magic eight ball, you can't tell me whether you'd give me a year extension when you know I've earned it and I've done nothing but going above and beyond for you. I'm not gonna accept that. Like, I, I, I expect us to treat each other the same way. And so I felt like it was a business encounter. And that's why I wrote him that letter. So I said, as a business, this is how I've always gone about mine and how I expect that you and I are gonna continue our partnership. And you know what? He extended it and we did it.

• 13:17Ryan Clark?

  Wait, why not just pull a Carson Palmer? You saw it already. You have, you saw a guy, just straight up, I'm, I'm gonna keep it real. You saw a guy just give up on Cincinnati. After getting paid, right? And you've done all of these things, bro. You've been there for a decade. Like you said, going above and beyond in the sense of what even a leader is, not to mention a high level, elite level play at, what, at the quarterback, the most important position on the offense.

• 13:47Speaker 02

  Right.

• 13:48Ryan Clark?

  Why would you decide that I'm gonna write a handwritten letter when you had your quarterback? The guy who the franchise said, you know what? We're giving you the keys to this thing and was actually trying to put something together around him, just get up and go. Why did you wanna make sure you were different from that?

• 14:05Speaker 02

  Cause I think, to me, like, who you are in adversity, who you are for guys when they need you is, is really the, at the end of the day, the story that's gonna be told about you. You can have glamorous moments, you can have all these moments you want, but if you're one of them cats that talks one thing and walks a different, uh, that will never leave you. And so I thought when the Carson thing went down, um, he was a guy that I looked up to and was a mentor to me and I really, honestly, you know, changed a bunch of myself to be a lot like him as a leader. I looked up to him so much. The way he was able to bring guys together and, and who he was, but in that moment, I disagreed with his decision and to walk away and, and really the way he walked away. And so, since I had shared that with him and that kinda led to a little bit of a strain

• 14:50Speaker 02

  in our relationship, I felt like here in this moment, uh, it can be about me, but at the same time, it needs to be about all the guys that I'm in this thing with and that I've made promises to, to be here with and to fight through with. And so, I really decided, you know what? This one more year, uh, really puts me at a number that I thought for me and my family, I set as a goal to try and make in this league when I started having success. So I took the one-year deal and the next year when they decided that I'd played so good, they wanted me to stay even though they drafted these guys. I told them they could talk to my agent for the first time ever in my career and that we'll figure it out that way.

• 15:25Ryan Clark?

  You and Carson cool?

• 15:27Speaker 02

  Uh, we are. I mean, you know, we'd speak if we talked. I mean, it sucks, you know, because I don't have many guys I've ever played with that I don't have a great relationship with. Always looked up to him. I mean, we were tight, like went to his house for Thanksgiving and Christmas and stuff like that. And I had just gotten married and Melissa kind of, you know, would come in town and we'd hang out with him and his wife. And so it was tough. I mean, it was, it was tough to, to, to go through that experience.

• 15:51Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 16:20Speaker 02

  You know, I think that really, when you think about a guy like Carson, I mean, at that time, he had, you know, when you're playing in Cincinnati, there ain't a lot of cats making a lot of money. That's just the truth, right? Especially this is pre the cap situations where they've adjusted for cap and evening out the pay scale a little bit for guys across the league. But at that time, he's one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the game.

• 16:40Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 16:41Speaker 02

  And the unquestioned leader of the team. And so for me, it wasn't really that you decided to do what's best for you and your family because I did something similar. It's really the way. It's like, did you fight for the guys on your way out the door? Did you try to make it different? Did you find a way to say, hey, in Cincinnati, guys shouldn't have to live like this. Guys shouldn't have to do this. Did you publicly address it? Did you speak up for people? You know, to me, if you're taking care of you and yours and at the same time, you know, you and yours is also all these brothers that you're sitting in the locker room with claiming we riding together, right? And especially when you're playing the quarterback position, you're asking five guys to protect you with their life, right? So.

• 17:16Ryan Clark?

  And your voice is huge.

• 17:18Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean, everyone's listening to you. So it just put a lot of us in a tough situation. And that's really what I conveyed to him. I wasn't, hey, man, still love you to death. I just don't think it's the right move. And that was it. That's, it was that simple.

• 17:30Ryan Clark?

  You know, you had that situation of being in Cincinnati for a decade. And then, you know, leaving, finding success as well in Los Angeles. And you've played with a number one overall pick with a high level of talent, who was maybe in the city or with an organization that couldn't put it together around him. You got an opportunity to go to a Super Bowl with Jared Goff. The Rams decide, you know what? He can't quite get us over this hump. And they make a trade for Matthew Stafford, who was, like I said, in one of those positions that Carson Palmer had been in, right? One of the elite talents. People always said if, and if they could, and when he gets.

• 18:14Ryan Clark?

  And he finally gets in this position to be with the team that could put the pieces around him. Did you feel an immediate change or an immediate shift in energy when Matthew stepped into the, into the building?

• 18:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think it's one of those things. It's a mixture of age matters, like especially at the quarterback position, the experience, being in those moments. I think when you met Matthew, you realized, man, this guy's seen it all. He's been through a lot of adversity in his career. And I think that for him, it was like, wow, I'm getting this opportunity to finally play in a spot in an organization where I feel like we got a chance to be successful. On the flip side, for Jared, it's, it's, there's things he shouldn't know yet. Because he hadn't been there yet. He hadn't been through all of it yet. He's not old enough yet to seen all the defenses, all the looks, all the coverages, all the way somebody's going to play with you. And, and I think really the biggest difference that really helped us at the end of the day is that Matthew had been around long enough to, to challenge Sean. And to be there to say, hey, you know what?

• 19:12Speaker 02

  I've done this before, but it didn't work this time. And maybe I would have done it a little differently. And I know you want to have this idea, but maybe there's a new wrinkle. And I think they could almost be counterparts rather than really like Sean coaching Jared and mentoring Jared how to be a quarterback in the NFL. Now all of a sudden, this guy knows how to play quarterback. It's how can we run the most efficient, effective plays all the time and get ourselves in every down, having a chance to have an answer?

• 19:38Ryan Clark?

  You were instrumental in bringing Marvin Lewis to the last game of the season. So you wanted to bring back the guy that was doing that. This whole young guru thing, this just happened. These young gurus, these 35-year-old offensive geniuses or defensive geniuses that come in and they give them these head coaching jobs.

• 19:57Channing Crowder?

  How do you feel about that? Cause you played for the OG and you played for a guru.

• 20:01Speaker 02

  And now you're older than your coach though. A lot.

• 20:04Channing Crowder?

  You're sitting in a room and to be honest with, you're richer, you're older, you have more kids. Like you, you could school your coach. Like how, how is that feeling with McVay? And he is a damn genius. I love X and O football. He's a genius. But what's that feeling when you're an OG for your damn head coach?

• 20:27Speaker 02

  You know, it's pretty wild. I mean, walking into a building with Sean, I think that the first thing that, uh, that blew you away is like you walk up and you realize how young he is, but also how dynamic he is. And I think that he is obviously a genius and he obviously does things that, uh, he, he, he does a great job of putting defense in really tough positions all the time. But I think that it's kind of like when you sometimes as a player feel like somebody gives you a compliment. But in some ways you feel like it's disrespectful because it doesn't really tell the whole picture. I think Sean McVay is one of those people that the, the genius offensive guru is almost an insult. Because really what he really is, is a tremendous leader.

• 21:08Speaker 02

  He is one of the rarest people at owning a room and a moment in front of his team. And being there to talk about things that really do matter at the end of the day. Like when adversity hits, tough times hit, can we communicate? Like, are we able to have tough conversations but be real with one another? And at the same time realize all of us have the same goal. And he has an ability at a really young age to be able to do that. That's really rare. And, and I think that's what's special about him is that that culture, that communication. Those are truly the most important things to him and they're what he excels at. And, and they make him a guy who, there's a lot of cats out there that can talk X's and O's. But there's a lot of people that don't want to hear him talk, right?

• 21:53Speaker 02

  And it's like, man, this dude, he gets on my nerves. I don't want to hear anything he has to say. He might be really smart, but he has an ability to communicate and lead. That's rare, rare. I mean, he's a one on one when it comes to that.

• 22:04Ryan Clark?

  You know, we talk about it all the time when I see him. My last year, he was, it was his first year as an OC in Washington. And on Monday, it was only two offices I would go to. Now, we weren't very good, so it was mostly after losses, right? When people don't really want to talk. And I would go to Sean's office every week, and we'd never talk about actual ball. We'd talk about, okay, RC, what would you want to hear in the meeting today? How would you want to be addressed when you get to the, you know, to you get to the defensive meetings? And all these questions, how would you want your room to feel? These different things. And I could tell then, I was like, he's not preparing to just coach offensive football. He's preparing to be a leader of men.

• 22:45Ryan Clark?

  And I think that's one of the things you feel every time that you're around him. But even for you in that situation, not only thinking about the dynamic between you and head coach, y'all ended up assembling a team, bro, that ended up being a team of stars. It was like the Mont stars, where you go out, you get Von. You get, you get OBJ after coming from Cleveland, not necessarily being successful, when you already have Cooper Cup. You have a Van Jefferson, you have a Tyler Higbee. Cam Akers gets healthy. You already have Jalen, you have AD. What was the dynamic like in that locker room? Because you got the OG, right? Who has an opportunity to be a Hall of Famer in the future,

• 23:28Ryan Clark?

  who's understanding his career is coming to and still leading. But now you have these young, dynamic players who are leaders too in LA. That had to be a vibe that needed to be directed to win championships.

• 23:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think that's really where you see how rare Sean McVay is, is that when you start adding those kind of dynamics, uh, don't get it twisted, Sean's a, Sean's an LA guy himself. I mean, this guy, I don't know if there's many guys that enjoy LA more than Sean, but... You know, at the same time, he understood what's really important. And that is that you got a lot of guys that you just listed that people have all their different labels for and talks about. But what I know about every single one of the guys you just listed is they love football and they love the game of football and they want to compete. And so Sean would make the main thing, the main thing. Like, let's talk about things like, hey, how do we be the best football team every, each and every Sunday? I don't give a crap what you wear to the meeting. I don't give a crap how you do certain things when you walk out of this building, as long

• 24:26Speaker 02

  as it is in conjunction with us being winning football players and getting on the field and being part of your team. And if it's a we-not-me mentality that we're all in this thing together to win, and the most important thing is that we're the best version of ourselves each and every day and we're finding that way to get a little bit better every time we step on the field, then all that other stuff is just stuff that's not important to me. And I think that's really, to him, what was most important and what you had to keep with that kind of group. And I think that you really saw it, how much those guys cared about one another, the love and respect that was there. You know, when you got those kind of superstars out on the field, it was rare. I mean, it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever been in because I felt like at one point, I'm looking around the field going, these are all cats from different places that

• 25:09Speaker 02

  I was like, man, I used to be a fan of watching them do their thing, how good they were. And, and now to all be on the same field together was one of the craziest experiences ever.

• 25:18Fred Taylor?

  Hey, wait, let me say this, man. Earlier, you spoke about loving on the rookies, opening your doors for them. A lot of selfless acts, right? You yourself, Walter Payton Man of the Year, congrats.

• 25:28Speaker 02

  Appreciate it.

• 25:29Fred Taylor?

  I saw you post a picture on Instagram with him in the seatbelt, right there, and you had a caption that said, "We need each other." First of all, I don't know if you have that one, but you brought another trophy.

• 25:40Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, yeah, I forgot. I was gonna show you a little something.

• 25:42Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, we gotta see that thing right there.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  I brought a friend with me.

• 25:45Fred Taylor?

  I know, but you don't have to say that. Well, the reason I'm saying I is... I feel some type of way every time I see it. It's such a familiarity.

• 25:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, you familiar with it.

• 25:53Fred Taylor?

  I feel at home.

• 25:54Speaker 02

  Freddie.

• 25:55Fred Taylor?

  I know.

• 25:56Speaker 02

  Fred, Fred, Fred.

• 25:57Fred Taylor?

  We ain't gonna get fired, leave him alone. We not gonna get fired.

• 26:00Speaker 02

  Y'all wanna sit right here? Just in case y'all wanna get a little closer.

• 26:04Fred Taylor?

  The Tigers, Tigers are too up on the Gators.

• 26:06Ryan Clark?

  Hey, the Tigers are too up on the Gators right now, man.

• 26:09Speaker 02

  LSU, baby.

• 26:10Fred Taylor?

  After saying we need each other, you posted a message about hate. You know, in the wake of what, what everything that's going on recently here in, in the United States, a lot of hate crimes, this and that, the other. Could you recite that? Your quote, your caption from that, from that post?

• 26:26Speaker 02

  You know, I try, I do my best. There's a lot of things in the world, I think, that are always gonna be what they are. And they, they're gonna create an emotional response. And I just try to make sure that I understand that, no different than as an athlete, or a father, or a husband, that I'm trying to be better at what I do each and every day as a person and, and when it comes to loving on people. I just believe that the answer isn't gonna, you know, meet hate with hate. But the answer's gonna be to, to not let those things discourage me. Not let those things get me distracted. Because I think that's what it is sometimes. It's that you get distracted about one act. And the reality is, we gotta keep attacking the big picture. And that is that we gotta get on the same page.

• 27:09Speaker 02

  And we gotta create opportunities, equalities, all these things that everyone's sitting on the same page. And to me, that's the most important thing in life, is that anytime I can do something that's about not myself, but the people that live life with me and the communities that I get to go in and be a part of, and improve their life, then that's all that matters. And I think that comes from a place of love. And so I, I always want, you know, sometimes you're talking to yourself and you talk to other people at the same time. And, and for me, it's like, I wanted to remind myself that, all right, as mad as I am, as mad as I wanna say a bunch of things that sometimes can come off as an emotional reaction, I wanna make sure they come from a place of love and, and a place, I wanna make a difference. I don't want somebody to pay for the crimes, I want somebody to make a difference with them. And, and I think that that's the thing.

• 27:54Speaker 02

  I want, I wanna, I want to find positivity in the situation of how we can make change that matters.

• 27:59Channing Crowder?

  With that thought, with 16 years grinding, balling, you know what I'm saying, doing your thing, Super Bowl, all the, the Pro Bowls and all that, why care? Like you have kids, like you talk about it with your kids, Melissa, your wife and all, and I got some questions, you know, I got some good questions.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, go ahead.

• 28:16Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, but no, no, we'll get to that. But even that, like, like you were.

• 28:19Speaker 02

  That's a different segment, but all right.

• 28:20Channing Crowder?

  Bro, and you said you retired because you wanted to spend more time with your daughters, with your wife, you want to do all that. So you're worried about ball, you're worried about your family, your wife, raising your kids, making them great people. Why the hell care about people? Why the hell do you win Walter Payton Man of the Year? Why do you put so much into community, bro? You have so much on your own plate. Why put, why scoop some of that into another plate? Why?

• 28:43Speaker 02

  Uh, cuz I just believe wholeheartedly that, uh, exactly what I said and people made fun of after the 2018 Super Bowl when I lost. I said that at the end of the day, we're all gonna die. It doesn't matter how many times you win a Super Bowl or Pro Bowls. Like who I am in adversity, who I am for people that believe in me and my brothers and sisters in life that need me, and who I am for people that don't even know me, is the only thing that's gonna matter when I'm dead and gone. The money, this trophy, the Walter Payton Man of the Year trophy, all that stuff gonna rust and be gone. But the impact I make on people and the impact that I make on communities, um, that maybe they believe in themselves a little bit more. Maybe they feel a little bit of love, just from appreciation. Um, no matter what their zip code is, their skin color, where they come from, it don't matter, like they're cared about.

• 29:27Speaker 02

  To me, that's a legacy that lasts forever and the only legacy I care about. And so when you say me sitting down with my kids, I think the same time, I believe that all those things start at my dinner table. My kids learning how to respect people, love people and appreciate people, no matter where they come from, is the number one goal. That's way bigger than that Lombardi Trophy. Because that's where community starts, is sitting at my dinner table, looking my wife in the eye, my two sons and my two girls in the eye, and making sure they understand that it will never be acceptable to carry my name and disrespect people, be ugly to people or treat people different based off of what they look like or where they come from.

• 30:04Ryan Clark?

  Like I remember the Andrew Whitworth LSU campus sightings. Whitworth's gonna be here, Whitworth's gonna be here, right? He had hair then.

• 30:12Channing Crowder?

  I don't think he decided to go bald.

• 30:14Speaker 02

  He on my team now, he on my team.

• 30:16Ryan Clark?

  You know, hey, listen, listen, you know, at that point, I'm mad anyway cuz he went to West Monroe, we couldn't beat him in high school. But I think about our friendship now, uh, things that, things that we learned about one another, uh, when, you know, you go to school at the same place, you on the same practice fields, but the differences in just the places that we're from. Right, me being from the West Bank of New Orleans, you being from the North, right, from West Monroe, all of those things you said and you tell your kids, right? Like, I remember being 21 and being, and coming into the NFL and who I am now at 42. And the same for you. How do you take the lessons you've learned and give those to your children, right?

• 30:59Ryan Clark?

  Because what I've learned is my kids have aged and they've grown, they've grown up differently from me. There are some lessons I learned from conversations, some lessons I learned from interactions, some lessons I've learned from altercations that I don't even want my kids to have. But they're the things that made me Ryan now. How do you communicate those messages to your kids when they're gonna grow up in L.A.? They're gonna grow up in a different place, they're gonna grow up with money that you didn't have. You know, what do, what do you try to focus on when parenting them? Not as the Walter Payton Man of the Year, but as Andrew Whitworth?

• 31:35Speaker 02

  I think really it's, it's about the opportunity to explain to them and be honest with them that, you know what, Dad grew up in a different time and let me explain to you some things I did right, let me explain some things I did wrong. And, you know, and, and I think that, for lack of knowledge and lack of realizing what's out there, I think that that's the problem kids can have today is maybe they don't know the situations other people in. I know just for me, having conversations with people in L.A. who think that things are a certain way, and I'm like, you ain't lived where I've lived. Like, it ain't this way you think it is, and it ain't as good as you think it is, and you describe it, like, it's, it's different everywhere. Everybody's got a different experience where they grew up and where they're from.

• 32:17Speaker 02

  I mean, I think of even just me growing up and, and realizing, now at this age, I understand everything. I get what's out there, I get thoughts that I didn't even realize, you know, like, just, just the simple things of how many high schools I can think of that flew the rebel flag when I was in high school, right? You did that now, like, there's no chance, but at that time, I think of like, wow, man, like, I grew up in a, there wasn't no phones, there wasn't no social media, like, people recording everything you did. And so it's almost like the excuse of just sometimes, hey, I didn't know better. Our kids aren't gonna get that chance, because every single thing they do is gonna be recorded, and every single thing they do is gonna be documented. And so they need to have those conversations before they're put in those situations, and so that they understand. What they're facing and what's out there and what those issues are important.

• 33:02Speaker 02

  And so I think for me, it's sometimes sitting down and be able to have the uncomfortable conversations with my own kids. And maybe sometimes that dampens their light on their dad and being like, you know what? Like, wow, you lived in a time where it was like this? Or you made this mistake and treated this person wrong or that person wrong? You made, you know, you made a bad decision in college about drinking or whatever it is, right? Just any mistake, but just being willing to say, you know what? The best way I can teach them is the stories I actually know and the things I've actually heard of. And maybe that hurts their feelings a little bit, but my kids aren't going to grow up like I did. So I gotta give them that opportunity to understand what's out there.

• 33:36Channing Crowder?

  The fat boys don't get the bad girls.

• 33:41Channing Crowder?

  The fat boys don't get the bad girls.

• 33:43Speaker 02

  I don't know, is he talking, who's he talking to?

• 33:45Channing Crowder?

  That's what I call liming, y'all, the fat boys.

• 33:47Fred Taylor?

  The big boys, big boys, Chad, big boys.

• 33:49Channing Crowder?

  We're not really fat like that, man. No, Whit put his, Whit put his, Whit, you put your hands on me one time and I don't appreciate it. Up in Cincinnati, I don't appreciate it when you put your hand on me in Cincinnati. But you married Miss Louisiana?

• 34:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:03Channing Crowder?

  Melissa, you brought it up twice now. If people don't know, you married Mr. Louisiana.

• 34:07Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 34:08Channing Crowder?

  I need to know what was that first line? Cause I call, I got my wife by calling the Sugarfoot. I say, hey, hey, Sugarfoot. And then people, women hear Sugarfoot, they're like, what does Sugarfoot mean? But that's my in. How the hell do you get Miss Louisiana, bro?

• 34:23Speaker 02

  I don't even explain it. I must've had a good mouthpiece at the time because...

• 34:26Channing Crowder?

  No, you remember the first conversation?

• 34:28Speaker 02

  Only thing she remembers from it is I think I had like, you know, a sideways hat on, some Sean John shorts and like a Fat Farm t-shirt. And she was just like, what, what exactly are you wearing right now?

• 34:42Speaker 02

  She, uh, she realized I was, I was, you know, an interesting cat. Let's put it that way. But I think what I said was, I'm Andrew Whitworth. And what that means is I have wit and I'm worth it.

• 34:51Fred Taylor?

  Whoa.

• 34:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:55Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, there.

• 34:56Speaker 06

  I got a slot.

• 34:57Speaker 02

  Tigers, that's what we do.

• 34:59Channing Crowder?

  No, no, no. Hey, hey, Sugarfoot is better than that any day.

• 35:02Speaker 02

  No.

• 35:02Fred Taylor?

  What's Sugarfoot? Let's get into it.

• 35:04Channing Crowder?

  That's just something you call a woman and it makes them think about it and they say, what does that mean? Then I say, what, baby? And you could bring them on over. Bro, I could school y'all in game all day. I had game.

• 35:15Speaker 02

  That's not better than though, I got wet and I'm worth it though.

• 35:17Channing Crowder?

  No, no, no.

• 35:18Fred Taylor?

  That was dope. That was dope.

• 35:19Channing Crowder?

  My last name's Crowder. What the fuck I'm gonna say? You wanna be with the crowd and her? Like, yeah, this shit don't work.

• 35:25Fred Taylor?

  That sounds creepy.

• 35:27Channing Crowder?

  Like with that relationship with, you know, as long as you've been with your wife, all the kids and all, like, was there ever the struggle? Because the football balance to the relationship balance?

• 35:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, at one time, we had four, three and under. So, uh, life was a little bit crazy, right? I mean, we were three, three, two and a newborn at one time. So it was, uh... Sounds like misery. Whew, it was intense, you know? So there's a lot of things that I think even when you in that chase to be great, right? That I think now it's easier for me to look back and go, man, I should have done something different. But I don't even think I was aware of it at the moment. I think I really just was chasing, trying to be successful, trying to be a great leader and a teammate and all these things that would lead to us having more success on the field. And I think the more I look back at it and the more I'm around the kids and realize how tough that had to been. For her, uh, I mean, you know, it's more that, you know, that's part of it. When I think about the Lombardi Trophy,

• 36:20Speaker 02

  when I think about Walter Payton Man of the Year, I think about her as well and the sacrifices she had to make to give me that opportunity to be the man I am.

• 36:27Channing Crowder?

  What's the action like the night you win a Super Bowl?

• 36:30Speaker 02

  Oh, man, you know.

• 36:31Channing Crowder?

  You got after it?

• 36:32Speaker 02

  He don't know. We know. Yeah.

• 36:34Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, we don't know.

• 36:36Fred Taylor?

  Well, I got a national championship.

• 36:37Speaker 02

  That's true. You actually don't know. My fault.

• 36:39Channing Crowder?

  Uh, yeah, we, no, you don't have to, you don't have to rub it in, bro.

• 36:42Speaker 02

  That's my bad, bro.

• 36:42Channing Crowder?

  Oh, okay, yeah. Well, like, is it, is it different?

• 36:45Speaker 02

  It was different. It was different. It was a Super Bowl performance. You know what I'm saying?

• 36:50Channing Crowder?

  But you...

• 36:51Speaker 02

  MVP.

• 36:51Channing Crowder?

  But you're tired though. You played the whole game. You can't really, you know, you can't keep your back cocked like you wanna keep it cocked.

• 36:59Speaker 02

  I mean, uh, you know what? Hey, in that moment, you living off a lot of adrenaline. I can promise you that. Hey, my dog knew he wasn't gonna play football no more after that either, so you could throw the back out. I had a little extra energy.

• 37:09Fred Taylor?

  Since Channing already got to it, let's stay on football and stay, keep the pivot over there, right? You got ejected in a preseason game.

• 37:18Speaker 02

  My former teammate, John Henderson. Yeah, no, it was regular season. That was regular season. Oh, yeah, yeah. What Big Hand do to you, man? You got ejected a couple times, Whit. Yeah, I think, you know, I think it was kind of a mixture thing. So I'd actually had a little tussle with his boy Albert a couple of weeks before. Haynesworth, and so we got into it a little bit. So I think there was kind of some, you know, you mess with my Tennessee boys, you know, type stuff. I remember, you know, 50-yard line, that's back in the day, right? It wasn't all the like cameras everywhere, cats standing at the 50-yard line pointing you out, telling you this, you know, this is how it's gonna go. So we kind of had a tough all game, but we was cool. And then low and behold, you know, Chad, y'all know how Chad is, Chad Johnson, Ocho Cinco, whatever he want to be called. I knew him before, both names, I can call me the one.

• 38:02Speaker 02

  It's like knowing somebody before they get married, right? I call him whatever I want. But he decides during the TV timeout, he gonna start, you know, that's him and TJ, they love to do it. Start talking to the D-line, talking smack, we were winning. And he get Big John mad, and that's a big man, and that man get mad. Yeah, he's big. You gotta be ready. So I was, country boy from Louisiana, I'm ready. Like, hey, I'm all about that action. So I'm pretty sure, we got to tussling, and then I think there's a snap, they snapped the ball. And I'm pretty sure I may have thrown like a left just straight off the snap. And we got to tussling, and he kind of ripped my helmet off. I like run to get my helmet, and right when I stood up for getting my helmet, I felt these just enormous paws wrap around my face. And there's actually a picture online where you can see, like literally, he's got both fingers in my eyeballs.

• 38:49Speaker 02

  I turned around and we went to throwing haymakers, and both of us got ejected. And you know what, I actually, I've been ejected twice, though. So I can't even.

• 38:57Ryan Clark?

  What was the second time?

• 38:58Speaker 02

  Second time was Lamar Houston in Cincinnati, actually playing, I think Carson might have been on the Raiders at that time. We were playing the Raiders in Cincinnati. And it was one of those like dead ball, you know, third down, they blew, the crowd was loud, somebody false started or something, they blew it dead. And Lamar didn't hear it, so he ran and grabbed Andy and like slammed him. And right when he came from the other side, and so I like saw Andy get slammed and I just went over there and took off and like dived on him and I we really didn't even throw no punches, but they threw us out of the game just for tussling.

• 39:27Fred Taylor?

  That's not bad though. Only two ejections, 240 games?

• 39:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, something like that.

• 39:31Fred Taylor?

  Not too bad.

• 39:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:33Fred Taylor?

  Bro, you're not supposed to get ejected ever. I mean, but 240 games, you're gonna have some freak.

• 39:38Speaker 02

  You gotta get some street cred every now and then, right?

• 39:39Channing Crowder?

  Really, who really, I ask people this, a lot of different venues of life, rappers I've asked and different players, NBA guys, who really in the NFL wants that smoke? Who wants to get your big country Louisiana ass to throw something at them?

• 39:56Speaker 02

  I mean, probably not many people at the end of the day, just because you're just, you're just big. I mean, right, if anybody's been around fighting knows, all it takes is one.

• 40:03Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 40:04Speaker 02

  You get caught with the wrong one, it might be an elbow, it gonna hurt, right?

• 40:07Channing Crowder?

  It's gonna be a little sleek.

• 40:08Speaker 02

  So, yeah, they're not much. Now, you know, the real truth of the story though, is that John Henderson, the background to that is, we were 0-8 that season. And that's actually when I became, I always tell the story, it's when I actually became the captain of the Cincinnati Bengals, is we had a walk through the day before the game. And I pulled the offense up and just literally like went off about how I was just tired of losing. I'd never been anywhere and lost. When I was at LSU, we won. When I was at West Monroe, we won a ton. I'd never been that way and accepted it. And I felt like guys just were cool with like, we just try to play, make a check, and we all right, we're losing. And I could not take it. I like blew a gasket off about how I will, you know, you can win, lose, whatever, but I will never

• 40:48Speaker 02

  just be somebody's punching bag, ever, in life. And so sure enough, lo and behold how God works, the next day, I get in this situation where the biggest, baddest dude on their whole team wants to whoop me. Want to lock up? Hey, like I said, if you're gonna talk it, you gotta be able to walk it.

• 41:04Fred Taylor?

  Was that like 07, 08 or something?

• 41:06Speaker 02

  It was 08. I was playing guard.

• 41:07Fred Taylor?

  I remember, we, we, we lost to you. I remember that. So it wasn't preseason. We, I remember losing that game.

• 41:12Speaker 02

  I think it was like 21-0, y'all ended up coming back, almost beat us.

• 41:15Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 41:15Speaker 02

  And we won at the end.

• 41:16Fred Taylor?

  I do remember that game.

• 41:17Speaker 02

  I wasn't in the game, I was in the locker room. But, so I got in that situation and I was like, you know what? If I'm gonna be about it, I gotta show it. So I did it. And then I stood in the tunnel when the game ended. And waited on everybody and I just dabbed up, hugged, loved, all that. And the next year, I was voted the captain. I was captain for the next, you know, 12 years of my career.

• 41:34Fred Taylor?

  Kick some ass, get a captain patch.

• 41:36Channing Crowder?

  Stay in the tunnel when you got kicked out the game?

• 41:37Speaker 02

  Well, I hung out in the locker room, but I ran out to the tunnel once we won, just to greet everybody.

• 41:41Ryan Clark?

  Like Draymond did just like recently when they ejected Draymond.

• 41:44Channing Crowder?

  I got kicked out of the game and they made me get in my car.

• 41:46Ryan Clark?

  Cause you gotta be a certain level, you have to be.

• 41:48Channing Crowder?

  I think I went and got a.

• 41:50Speaker 02

  Were you dressed for the game though?

• 41:51Channing Crowder?

  I was playing and then me and Matt Light started fighting the same way that you and John started fighting. And then, but once we got back to the tunnel, the words that I, me and Matt Light said to each other, and then when I went and got my, my pocket knife, then they were like, you gotta get back in your truck.

• 42:07Speaker 02

  That might have been why you had to leave.

• 42:08Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, we're not gonna let this happen.

• 42:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, weapons on NFL properties usually an issue.

• 42:13Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, it's like, it's not, it's not only against league rules.

• 42:17Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 42:17Ryan Clark?

  It's actually illegal if you use that anywhere you use it.

• 42:21Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 42:22Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, so my advice to you would be as somebody else who's also a captain, to not do that.

• 42:27Channing Crowder?

  Oh, they never made me a captain.

• 42:28Speaker 02

  But you're also a Super Bowl champion too.

• 42:31Channing Crowder?

  Damn, you gonna do that with?

• 42:33Speaker 02

  My fault, I just.

• 42:33Channing Crowder?

  We talked about this rubbing, rubbing life in.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  My fault, no, we were, I thought we were just all accolades.

• 42:39Fred Taylor?

  240 games, you started 235 lows, multiple All Pros, multiple Pro Bowls, Super Bowl champ, Walter Payton Man of the Year, a ton of accolades. You belong in Canton?

• 42:53Speaker 02

  Oh, man, uh, I, I feel like that's one of those things that your resume should speak for itself. And, you know, I think the only one that that kind of eats at me a little bit is that I finished second in all time wins as a lineman.

• 43:08Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch in Bev. Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 43:37Speaker 02

  By one game, which I blame Sean McVay just because we sat out one week. You know, we already locked up the playoffs. I don't count the games I actually missed. I'm only counting the one where he didn't let me play. Right, so, yeah, so, you know, there's a lot of them, right? Like, I mean, there's a lot of cool accolades. Most of them unfortunately have to do with being old. But it's, it's amazing, man.

• 43:57Fred Taylor?

  Why would you say that, though? It speaks a lot to...

• 44:01Speaker 02

  It does. I mean, you know, I think I'm the oldest left tackle to ever play in a Pro Bowl. The oldest one to ever play in a Super Bowl. The oldest one to ever start an NFL game. Pretty sure I'm probably the oldest All-Pro ever, too, as far as the left tackles go. So, there's a lot of cool accolades like that. I joke on that just because I want to be self-deprecating a little bit. But, you know, I think it's one of those things. Look, I've won a lot of football games. Everywhere I've been, we've won. You know, we couldn't find a way to win a playoff game in Cincinnati, but we won a lot of dagum football games. And then, really, in LA, same thing. We won and had a lot of chances and finally took advantage of them. So, I think if you really look at wins and success on the field and longevity, I think that I should have as good a case as anybody else. I agree with that.

• 44:44Channing Crowder?

  But you brought up Ogden earlier. You said something about Ogden.

• 44:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:48Channing Crowder?

  J.O.'s a monster. And Joe Thomas, monster. And Joe Thomas played on a terrible team. You won a Super Bowl, but in Cincinnati, y'all weren't doing nothing.

• 44:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:57Channing Crowder?

  Were you as talented as Jonathan Ogden, Joe Thomas? Are you on that level?

• 45:02Speaker 02

  Well, I think Jonathan Ogden's a, you know, a guy that is probably one of the rarest humans on earth when you talk about size, ability to move, all that. And I don't think it really goes down to talent as much as production. I mean, I think he obviously was an insane player. And I think Joe Thomas the same way. I mean, his ability to move and pass protect was exceptional and really rare. But I think there's also something that has to be said with your ability to affect winning and losing, because I think you really look at some of the greatest athletes and productive players in the world that we all look up to. I mean, does people talk about Michael Jordan and Kobe the way they do if they don't have the championship?

• 45:37Ryan Clark?

  Nope.

• 45:37Speaker 02

  You know, and so there's plenty of those guys that in my opinion, a lot of times it comes to alignment unfortunately because you don't have statistics that really matter, that it's like you can't make your mind up. Is it public perception? Is it winning? Is it talent? What is the actual marker? So to me, no different than every athlete that's a quarterback that has a ton of production, doesn't ever win anything, they always say that's countless production. Well, I've won, I've produced, and I've been there for longer than anybody else.

• 46:05Ryan Clark?

  I mean, I believe you're a Hall of Famer. You know, we were talking about it on the way over, but I think something has to be said, not only for longevity and durability, but sustainability, to be able to play at a consistently high level for that number of years. It's not necessarily just that you're able to get out there, it's that I'm able to get out there and I'm not just competing, I'm excelling. And I believe that whoever gets the opportunity, whether it's a reporter from Cincinnati, a reporter from LA, if they double team it or whatever, when they get an opportunity to stand in front of a room and put in front of people, this is who he was drafted as too. Right? When you know, when you mentioned the Jonathan Ogden's and the Joe Thomases, they were thought

• 46:47Ryan Clark?

  to be something, and not in a negative way, that Andrew wasn't because he would have been drafted where they were. So to build yourself into that and to become the man that you became in the league, I think is what, at least ultimately, is gonna have me sitting in some crowd in Canton, hopefully it's not raining, you know, watching you receive your gold jacket. But on the other side of that, a man who put together that type of career, we're sitting here and we're in the Rams house where they conducted, if you want to call it a draft that they had this year, where they conducted their draft, what advice would you give to young rookies, not only stepping into this organization, but hearing their name calls or just getting the phone call to have an opportunity to be a part of the NFL now?

• 47:29Speaker 02

  I mean, for me, it's wild how much the league has changed since I got in it. I think that advice would change at every different part of my career that I've gotten to watch the game grow. You know, I mean, to think that when I sit and reflect, to play in three different decades of the NFL, right? I mean, to play 06 to 10, to play 10 to 20, and now 20 to 22, like, I've seen the game change so much and what's really required of you. And I've also seen the athlete change. And all the distractions, all the things that are out there now from when I got in the game to now, it's insane. I mean, I can't imagine the pressure that some of these kids feel. That's really created from a lot of circumstances that are just a part of their life now.

• 48:12Speaker 02

  It's a lot easier to tell somebody like me, hey, man, don't pay attention to social media or what somebody's saying. But these kids, they grew up with it. That's all they ever did. That's where they, their love and communication, a lot of the time, that's exactly where it came from. And so, everything they've ever been in high school and college is praised. And now to have to deal with being told, you're not good, or you're critiqued. I think the toughest thing really to really tell those young people is, is obviously the, the normal things physically. It's that is put your head down and grind and realize that, you know, it'll be greater later. You know, the more, the more you'll put in, the more time you'll put into being successful, you'll have a chance to enjoy all that down the road.

• 48:53Speaker 02

  But then also, learn to realize that, you know what, the opinion of people doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't make you something, you know, anybody's perception of you, you know, doesn't really matter. I tell our young guys all the time, never let somebody's perception of you become your reality. Never let what somebody says become the reality because you react to it and become who they say you are. You know, you gotta be, you gotta learn how to put that aside and just go after your dreams and what it is you want to be. And be yourself, most importantly. And, and so to me, I think that's the keys. If you can learn how to be yourself, you can learn how to not let people's perceptions label you. And you, you have a dream and an aspiration to be something. And just put your head down and realize that if you'll keep grinding, you'll keep working that way, you'll get there eventually.

• 49:38Channing Crowder?

  And wait, you talk about that social media stuff. Melissa got into it. NFC Championship game.

• 49:46Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 49:47Channing Crowder?

  That was 49ers, Louisiana, like, and you came to her defense, which I love it as a husband. You came to her defense, but, so you have to be involved with it. You seem like you don't really.

• 49:57Speaker 02

  That wasn't a fun conversation.

• 49:58Channing Crowder?

  Want to embrace it, but like, what's that like when you have to now defend your wife on social media?

• 50:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I think it's one of those things that really would never come to that. And, and I think Joe and I obviously had a great conversation about Joe Staley.

• 50:11Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 50:11Speaker 02

  I could see where he was a little confused on what he was trying to do, but my simple explanation to him was, is just this, like, you know what, sometimes our women can be our protectors. And sometimes your family, your mama, everybody, they're gonna reach out and try to protect you in one way, form, or fashion, right? But at the end of the day, as a player and the guys have played this game, like, don't ever tweet at our significant others. Don't ever tweet at our mama, or at our wife, or at our kids. Like, leave that alone. Like, there's a lot of ways you can accomplish all the things you want to do, and I get it, it was just trying to create a good little rivalry on Twitter. But once you kind of put it as okay to do that, you create all the crazies out there that aren't as respectful,

• 50:55Speaker 02

  and they don't come from a good place, that now feel like that's okay, right? And I think the least thing we can do with social media as players and guys who respect the game is to make sure the same thing we would want. Nobody touching our family, like, don't address anybody else's family, right? Like, just, we can let that go, you know? Take on any issue you want to, just leave that one alone. And that's, uh, that's the conversation we had, and, and I thought that, you know, it wasn't from an evil place, it was just more of a man to man, like, hey, I just think that's a good way for all of us to go forward. And, uh, we had a clear understanding on that, and we're cool on it. I mean, I think he respected it, and we were good.

• 51:30Fred Taylor?

  We've come a long way, man. 2006, entering the NFL. Your second year, they switch you to left guard, right?

• 51:39Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 51:40Fred Taylor?

  Then you move back to tackle. 11 years at one organization, five years at another, Super Bowl champ, Walter Payton of the Year. Just an amazing career, man. Um, what's next?

• 51:52Speaker 02

  You know, um, the game of football is something I love, and, and I think for me, it's gonna be, obviously, a lot of time with my family, a lot of time with my wife and kids. And, uh, you know what? Because of what I've done for a living, uh, they love the game of football as well. They got a passion to be around it, too. And so, I think for us, it's finding a way that I can be involved in the game still, whether that's, you know, working with the organization, whether that's in the media, finding a spot that's good for me to, to be able to talk about the game, and be in some way invested in it. Because I love it too much, it's done too much for me and my family, and our family respects and loves it too much to walk away from it completely. So, it's really just finding the next chapter in the game of football, and what that looks like.

• 52:36Channing Crowder?

  But let me say, no, but you ain't gonna be no regional scout.

• 52:39Speaker 02

  No, they ain't.

• 52:40Channing Crowder?

  You're not going to make the money, you're making now to go and looking at Western Kentucky players, like, it's not just any football stuff, like, what you gonna do, bro? What's the next step? Of Whitworth.

• 52:51Speaker 02

  I think for me, really, it's gonna really come down to one of two things. I'm gonna either be somewhere running an organization or somewhere sitting on a set talking about the game of football. So it's really, you know, whether it's calling a game, talking about a game, or managing a team. I mean, I think that's what I've always loved to do, and I love culture and I love those things, so I'm either gonna be talking about them or doing them. And to me, that's the ultimate goal.

• 53:15Ryan Clark?

  I'm from suburbs. I didn't grow up in the country like Whit. You don't put the cart before the horse. What's the saying? You think the cart can go with the horse in the back? But why they gotta have a cart? Anyway, that's besides the point. I'm trying to get to a point. I know we're not supposed to put whatever the hell the horse is pulling in front of the horse. The horse gotta be in front of the guy. Yeah, you ain't gonna do that, right?

• 53:33Speaker 02

  Don't put the back in the front.

• 53:34Ryan Clark?

  But, you know, Whit, it's not a lot of time, man, that you get, you know, before they make a decision on whether or not you do get an opportunity to be counted amongst the greatest to have ever played.

• 53:48Ryan Clark?

  Have you given any thought that if that time comes, if you get that knock on the door and they say, you know, Andrew Whitworth, you're a Hall of Famer, who your presenter will be?

• 53:58Speaker 02

  Wow. That's, that's, uh, I really hadn't. I mean, I think that there's gonna be a lot of people that have been really special to my career, and I, that's been the fun part, really, of these last couple of months retiring is, you know, it's, uh, once you finally say you're done, it's like everybody finally comes out and just tells you all the things they've wanted to tell you for forever. So it's been fun to hear that and to really see how many people have been really a part of the journey. I mean, it's been wild. I mean, I told somebody the other day, I think this'll be the first August I'm not in training camp for 25 years or something like that.

• 54:32Ryan Clark?

  That's crazy.

• 54:33Speaker 02

  So it's just wild to even think about. And I think for me, it's gonna be one of those things I'm gonna have to sit and reflect and think about, one, who would do the best job to do that, and two, it's gonna be a tough, tough decision because there's so many people who've had such an awesome impact on me. I mean, you think of Sean McVay and what he's been to me recently in this career and our relationship and how tight it is. And I've learned so many different things from him that really have helped me grow into a better person, leader, father, everything, made me more accountable. But then also Marvin Lewis and just the man he is and what a good man he's been to me and my team and... You know, even having him at my last game this year, how special that was to hear how many like even just in the couple of minutes I was with him, how many players, wives like

• 55:15Speaker 02

  from our old team still reach out to him and give him reports on their husbands and how they're doing and how much that means to him like like they're his kids like he's their father. What a cool impact he's had on my career. I just, I just think there's so many people that I could think about on that list that that's gonna be one of those decisions gonna be really tough to make.

• 55:33Fred Taylor?

  I think the tougher decision really at the end of the day, after playing 11 years in Cincy and then playing five years here in LA with the Rams, have you officially retired? Have you signed?

• 55:45Speaker 02

  I've not signed.

• 55:46Fred Taylor?

  Okay, so have you decided if you're gonna retire Bengal or Ram? I think that's a tough decision.

• 55:53Speaker 02

  I just decided if I'm trying to decide if I'm gonna pull Eric Weddle eventually at some point. I'm looking, I'm looking for that gig. Where's the three games, four games and Super Bowl?

• 56:00Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, that makes sense.

• 56:01Speaker 02

  I'm trying to catch that one first.

• 56:03Channing Crowder?

  What, 16 years? You got a hell of a severance coming.

• 56:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're right.

• 56:07Channing Crowder?

  Get that check, get that check, big homie.

• 56:09Speaker 02

  You're right. No, I don't, I don't know. You know, honestly, I think it's one of those things my wife and I talked about the whole time we're here because going to the Super Bowl in 18, we were like, all right, we've only been here, you know, really two seasons.

• 56:19Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 56:20Speaker 02

  Would we retire Rams if we win this Super Bowl, right? And then I think really as our time here expanded and really what we've become to this community and the ways we've been able to invest, I think it's so special to us. I mean, right now, just it's awesome to be able to drive in, in almost any community in LA and forget football, but like have people I can hug their neck and say, you know what, I've had a great time, you know, having an impact and getting to be around you and come to your school. And I even think of some of the like elementary schools in Inglewood that, you know, it's cool when an athlete goes and visits, right? But it's even cooler when they come back again. And that's what those kids really want to know. Do you actually care? Or is this just really about you? And so I think of some of those times I've made a second,

• 57:05Speaker 02

  third, fourth visit and hearing kids say things like, wow, you really came back. And so just that investment in this community and now pulling it off and winning a Super Bowl, I think that we would probably be leaning to retiring as Rams just because of what it's become to our family and really what it's become to us to be a part of something bigger than just us.

• 57:26Ryan Clark?

  I think it was fitting for you to finish your career the last year, man, as Super Bowl champion, as the Walter Payton Man of the Year. And, bro, we've been trying to get this done, I mean, probably since the show's inception. You were a little busy for the first month and a half or so, but as soon as you were done, man, we wanted to get an opportunity to sit down with you. So we're just so grateful that you gave us the time. Cincinnati is better because you went there. Los Angeles is better because you're still here. But, man, Louisiana's always gonna be home, man. All of us are so proud of you, bro. So appreciate you.

• 58:00Speaker 02

  I appreciate it, man. Y'all have done an amazing job. I love watching, paying attention to all the guests and how fun y'all have with the man and just the conversations. I mean, creating these kind of conversations that matter and they need to be had and people need to hear. It's just, I couldn't have more respect and couldn't be more proud of y'all, man. It's awesome.

• 58:16Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate it. Yes, sir.

• 58:17Channing Crowder?

  When you retire, man, make some more babies.

• 58:21Ryan Clark?

  Do you want to touch it?

• 58:22Channing Crowder?

  Don't touch that shit.

• 58:23Ryan Clark?

  You sure?

• 58:24Channing Crowder?

  No, man, I ain't never never.

• 58:26Ryan Clark?

  It'd be so tainted. It'd be so tainted if you touched it anyway. Let me just look.

• 58:30Channing Crowder?

  Fuck you.

• 58:31Ryan Clark?

  It pisses me off every time I see one. Hey, long as you don't let him put his lips on it, Whit. It's forever contaminated.

• 58:36Speaker 02

  You right about that.

• 59:03Speaker 07

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