Andrew Whitworth, who says he did some soul-searching when Joe Thomas retired, finds himself front and center in his first Super Bowl.

ATLANTA The football world had this town moving Monday night.

Helicopters did fly patterns past swarming crowds at State Farm Arena, where the NBA's Hawks play, and where a lot of people paid a lot of money to attend Super Bowl LIII's "Opening Night." It used to be "Media Day." When they found out auxiliary gobs of money could be made by charging people to watch players sit around and chat, it became "Opening Night."

Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth, who soaked it all in, is amazed he is still ticking. Ticking? The Rams paid him as if he is in his prime, giving him a three-year, $33.7 million contract before the 2017 season.

As the crazy lights and piped-in noise washed over the thousands of people around him, Whitworth shared a quiet reflection about a friend who never got this far.

Joe Thomas, Whitworth's fellow offensive tackle, one who entered the NFL a year later than himself, ended an 11-year career after the 2017 season.

"It's pretty humbling to think what Joe did with the Browns," said Whitworth, who spent 11 seasons as a Cincinnati Bengal and played 19 games in which Thomas suited up for Cleveland. "It turns out I've played more games than Joe did at this point, but he had the incredible snap streak ... more than 10,000 in a row.

"Then he retired at the end of last year. That really made me think. If Joe Thomas is retiring, what does that say about what I should be doing?

"It comes around to I still really love to play the game, and I'm blessed to be able to keep playing it."

Whitworth is in his second year with the Rams and 13th NFL season. He had never been in a playoff win until this year. He turned 37 in December, the same month Thomas turned 34. Thomas' epic streak of 10,363 snaps ended seven games into the 2017 season.

Whitworth has played in all 18 of the Rams' 2018 games, including the two so far in the postseason. He didn't get any real rest within a game until the last two regular-season contests, blowouts against the Cardinals and 49ers.

"To be in a Super Bowl against the Patriots is pretty amazing," Whitworth said. "Being the oldest offensive lineman out there, I can really appreciate what it means that Tom Brady is out there for New England."

Before getting back to the revelry, Whitworth's heart went out to the retired Cleveland Brown.

"It would have been nice if Joe had gotten to experience something like this," he said.

The hubbub of the Monday before a Super Bowl was a pause for Whitworth and other long-timers to reflect.

If you happened to have flown in from the part of the world next to Lake Erie, it was impossible to kick off a week at Super Bowl LIII without remembering the World Series of 1995.


History was bubbling by the lake. There were good bubbles, and bad.

In baseball, the Indians came to Atlanta with a juggernaut starring grumpy sluggers (Albert Belle, Eddie Murray), a really fast dude (Kenny Lofton), the Earnest Byner-to-be of baseball (Jose Mesa) and stars who made everybody smile (Omar Vizquel, Carlos Baerga).

The record shows Atlanta finished the Indians in a Game 6 in which Tom Glavine's pitches, whether on the corner or a foot outside, were called strikes.

That was at old Fulton County Stadium, which believe it or not is two homes of the Braves ago.

Back by the lake, something more heinous than a corrupt strike zone was coming down.

The '95 World Series ended on Oct. 28. Bill Belichick's Browns lost at Cincinnati Oct. 29. A few days later, worked leaked that Art Modell was moving the Browns to Baltimore.

Sean McVay was 9 years old. Now he is the head coach of the Rams, going against Belichick.

"I really appreciate Bill Belichick, and what he's been doing at such a high level for such a long time," McVay said. "I'm grateful for the way he has treated me."

McVay led the Rams into the Hawks' arena, which was built in 1999, the year the Browns came back as an expansion team.

Belichick spent the 1999 season as the assistant head coach of the New York Jets. His resume aged better than most buildings.


Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP