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Whitworth Elected to East-West Shrine Bowl HOF

by Michael Bonnette
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Whitworth Elected to East-West Shrine Bowl HOF

BATON ROUGE – Former LSU football great Andrew Whitworth will be inducted into the prestigious East-West Shrien Bowl Hall of Fame at Global Life Field on Jan. 29 in Arlington, Texas.

Whitworth and former Ohio State running back Eddie George are this year’s two inductees. Whitworth participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl in 2006.

The East-West Shrine Bowl – featuring three former LSU players in Greg Penn, Bradyn Swinson and Zy Alexander – takes place at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Jan. 30, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. NFL Network will televise the game.

The East-West Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame is home to some of the greatest names ever to play the game including Bob Lilly, Randy White, Dick Butkus, Larry Csonka, Joe Greene, Gale Sayers, Brett Favre, Troy Vincent and Will Shields, among others. Both George and Whitworth, along with those previously listed, were recently selected as part of the East-West Shrine Bowl All-Century Team.

“We’re proud to celebrate Eddie George and Andrew Whitworth as the newest members of the East-West Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame,” said Bob Roller, Vice President of Sports for Shriners Children’s. ”Both have achieved remarkable success in football after their college careers – George as a four-time Pro Bowler and now head coach at Tennessee State, and Whitworth as a Super Bowl champion and Walter Payton Man of the Year with the Los Angeles Rams. The East-West Shrine Bowl was their first step transitioning from college to professional football, and we’re happy to recognize their accomplishments.”

Whitworth was a four-year starter at left tackle for the Tigers, never missing a game during his career. He started 52 consecutive games, at the time the second-longest streak in NCAA history, and helped LSU to the 2003 BCS National Championship. He earned first-team All-SEC honors as both a junior and senior.

Selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, Whitworth played 16 seasons in the NFL (11 with Cincinnati, five with the Los Angeles Rams). The four-time Pro Bowler capped his career with a Super Bowl victory against the Bengals, becoming the oldest offensive lineman to play in and win a Super Bowl (40 years old).

The 6-foot-7 lineman earned the NFL’s most prestigious honor in 2021 when he was named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, presented to a player in recognition of community service off the field, as well as excellence on it. Whitworth has focused his efforts on helping people facing housing insecurity and damaged homes.

Whitworth will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in June of this year. He also served as LSU’s SEC Football Legend in 2024. Whitworth is currently an Amazon Prime NFL TV analyst and he also hosts a podcast “Fitz & Whit” with former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.