In one of the more unexpected beefs in the NFL from this past week, one nationally recognized sportswriter and one recently retired player are going at it on Twitter. Ex-Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio are waging a war on words, mainly on two in particular – “Dallas Cowboys”.
To be specific, they're arguing based off words uttered by Whitworth during a 49ers-Texans sideline interview in his post-NFL stint with Amazon. The 2021 Super Bowl winner was asked if his phone has been ringing after the news that Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith suffered an avulsion fracture in the knee caused by a hamstring injury during practice.
His exact response was as follows, via Pro Football Talk:
“It has,” Whitworth said, in the clip posted by Blogging The Boys on Twitter. “I mean, obviously, there’s been some things with the Cowboys and losing Tyron Smith. It’s just an awful deal. Such a great player, and a guy I’ve always loved watching play. It’s been a busy day of answering calls. The problem is they’re calling and texting the wrong person. They need to be texting and calling Melissa Whitworth and the kids, because they have final approval on whether I’m ever going to play football again.”
After Mike Florio painted the picture of how it sounded an awful lot like he was hinting at the Cowboys contacting him – something that would be considered tampering – Andrew Whitworth denied the claim directly on Twitter. According to him, his phone was ringing from people asking him about taking over with the Cowboys and not them in particular.
Not what I said. I said I answered calls and text from people all day since the injury. Begging me to go to the cowboys! Thx https://t.co/aoyA5DEvuE
— Andrew Whitworth (@AndrewWhitworth) August 26, 2022
I answered many messages yesterday from national and a few dallas sports reporters and journalist.
☝🏼 The “people” I mentioned last night. Asking me if cowboys had reached out? Or if I was interested?
Answer was “No” 2 both! Appreciate them for doing it the right way!
✌🏼!— Andrew Whitworth (@AndrewWhitworth) August 26, 2022
But Florio contends that the insinuation was clear in that the words were leading as if the Cowboys themselves were in touch with Whitworth. Then a back and forth ensued between both men.
In repeated attempts to make assumptions without asking people directly! @ProFootballTalk has got another story wrong and failed to take any responsibility! Have a great Friday folks! 💪🏼! https://t.co/DXyPSNOkJH
— Andrew Whitworth (@AndrewWhitworth) August 26, 2022
Andrew, you said what you said. You created the impression that the Cowboys called. If you're going to work in TV, you need to own your words and not blame others for hearing your words and reacting to them. Have a great Friday folks! https://t.co/VjeUNbHbQC
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 26, 2022
Way to spice up the NFL preseason, fellas.
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