LA Rams News: Andrew Whitworth nominated for Salute to Service Award

LA Rams News: Andrew Whitworth has been nominated for this year’s ‘Salute to Service Award presented by USAA’

The LA Rams have a lot to be thankful for the year in the play and the presence of veteran offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth. Despite starting at left tackle as one of the oldest players in the NFL, he is having a renaissance type of year. He is one of the best offensive linemen this season, he is a leader in the locker room, and he is one of the most charitable persons in the league.

Now the Rams have one more reason to be grateful for his performance. In a press release shared today, Rams OT Andrew Whitworth was announced as the Rams nominee for the “Salute to Service Award presented by USAA.” The award, presented annually by USAA and the NFL, honors a league member who demonstrates an exemplary commitment to honoring and supporting the military community. USAA holds the designation of Official NFL Salute to Service Partner.

32 nominees

The NFL released the information today on the NFL.com website.  The announcement was made jointly by both the NFL and USAA as the annual nominations for the Official NFL Salute to Service Partner. This award accepts 32 nominees, one representative for each NFL team, for this year’s tenth annual Salute to Service Award presented by USAA. The Salute to Service Award recognizes NFL players, coaches, personnel, and alumni who demonstrate an exemplary commitment to honoring and supporting the military community, as nominated by NFL clubs.

The official nomination for Andrew Whitworth contains the following biography in full:

"“As soon as Andrew Whitworth joined the Rams organization, he made an immediate impact in the community, including with the military members and veterans living in the Los Angeles region. Last season, through our All-Community Team ticket program, Andrew purchased 50 tickets for every home game and donated the tickets to military organizations such as USC Veterans group, Merging Vets and Players (MVP) and a variety of local military bases. Whitworth, who has a strong relationship with Merging Vets & Players’ co-founders, Jay Glazer and Nate Boyer, spends much of his offseason training with some of M.V.P vets at Unbreakable performance gym in Hollywood and even represented M.V.P. during the 2017 and 2018 ‘My Cause My Cleats’ campaign. Last year, Andrew joined M.V.P co-founder, Nate Boyer, and two veterans with ties to Hollywood Veteran Center, a homeless shelter strictly for veterans, in a conversation about why he is so strongly connected to helping veterans and in turn, the veterans shared their stories and how much they owe to the Hollywood Veterans Center. The conversation was followed by a tour of the veterans shelter where Andrew was able to interact with residents and finished with a surprise ticket donation for our Salute to Service game. Most recently, Andrew joined Merging Vets and Players (MVP) and others including Jay Glazer, Michael Strahan, Tony Gonzalez, Dean Cain and Chamique Holdsclaw for a virtual fundraiser to raise $100,000 for veterans and athletes impacted by COVID-19.” – per NFL.com NFL Announces Nominees for Salute to Service Award Presented by USAA"

That is a rather impressive write-up.

Award recipient announcement to air week of Super Bowl LV

Finalists for the award are scheduled to be announced in January. The recipient will be recognized at the NFL Honors awards show, which is set to air the week of Super Bowl LV. : Past recipients of the award include Donnie Edwards (2019) and Ben Garland (2018).

This is just one more reason why the LA Rams are such a strong football organization. Not only is the team filled with talented players on the field, but they have constructed a roster filled with exemplary leaders off the football field. Andrew Whitworth helps the team and his community. Big Whit has a big heart.