Andrew Whitworth Not A London Fan
By Matt Niehaus
Bengals Offesive Tackle Andrew Whitworth let his feelings be known on the prospect of an NFL team moving to London in the
Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
near future. Whitworth a seven year pro is not a fan of the idea of moving a team to London.
Whitworth told Cincinnati.com on friday that if he were on the team that was moving to London he would hope to be financially stable to be able to retire. His direct quote “I would hope that I was financially able to quit, That’s what I would hope, because if I was, my papers would be the first one in.” Whitworth was referring to his retirement papers he would file with the NFL the next days.
From there Whitworth went on to comment that others shared the same sentiments he had, or at least he believed there were others.
"“I don’t see that a lot of guys would want to do that, I don’t see any players that would enjoy that. Sure, you may find a handful of guys that say, ‘Oh hey, that’d be cool,’ but the rest of them wouldn’t.”"
The NFL has been playing games in London since 2007 and this year they will be playing two games in Wembley Stadium. Each game has been a sellout, which bodes well for the NFL justifying a move to London. Spectators come from other countries to view the games, the sport is immensely popular among the youth in London.
What Andrew Whitworth said was completely fair. There is no reason to attack what he said but that is exactly what happened after his comments were published. The World Wide Leader proceeded to tear apart his comments online then on all the after noon shows.
Whitworth is entitled to his own opinion, and opinion that I believe is shared around the league. I thing fans also share the same sentiment. As a fan now if your team is selected as the home team for a London game you as a fan lose a home game that season. So instead of 8 chances to see your team you only get 7. And seven weekends out of the year isn’t a lot to see your team play.
Andrew Whitworth said something that many people were thinking, for that he should be commended.