Late last November, with the Rams rolling and her husband gutting out game after game on aching ankles, Melissa Whitworth wondered if this might finally be the end. Part of her, deep down, hoped it was.

At 37, Andrew Whitworth was already an anomaly, the oldest starting offensive lineman in the league, the oldest ever to make a Pro Bowl. The Rams stalwart left tackle had been through the grind of a dozen NFL seasons prior to this one, enduring every possible ache and pain, defying age and logic on his way to becoming one of the league’s best at his position.

Still, every year, when the season wore on him most, her husband inevitably wondered aloud about retirement.