Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth is donating nearly $60,000 to the 12 victims of the Nov. 7 Borderline Bar and Grill mass shooting, Rams Senior Director of Communication Artis Twyman said.

Whitworth is donating his game check from Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks to the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Conejo Valley Victims Fund, according to ESPN.

“Andrew [Whitworth] got up and addressed a lot of the players and talked about some of the things that we want to be able to do in a positive way to…use this in a way that you can try to help support the people that were affected by this,” Rams Head Coach Sean McVay said in a press conference Nov. 8.

Before kickoff at 1 p.m. in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Nov. 11, a moment of silence was held for the victims who were killed in the mass shooting and for those affected by the wildfires in Ventura County.

In addition to Whitworth’s donation, Rams quarterback Jared Goff, running back Todd Gurley II, defensive tackle Michael Brockers, kicker Johnny Hekker and defensive end Aaron Donald are auctioning off the jerseys worn in Sunday’s game through NFL Auction, Rams Media Information Coordinator Travis Langer said in an email interview.

The proceeds will go toward the Conejo Valley Victims Fund and the American Red Cross Southern California Wildfire Relief. Bidding is live on the NFL Auction website and will close around 6 p.m. on Nov. 25.

“The biggest thing is I think you address the situation, you don’t run away from it,” McVay said. “I think we got a lot of guys that feel like it’s in their heart to try to help out and whatever we end up doing moving forward.”

As of 12:15 p.m. Nov. 12, all six jerseys that are up for auction have collected 110 bids and nearly $14,500 for the CVVF and wildfire relief.

“[You] never want to see that go down anywhere, but it’s unreal that it can happen somewhere that you work at every day. Definitely, [my] prayers to everybody and their families,” Gurley said in a press conference Nov. 8.

Twyman said the Woolsey and Hill fires that have burned nearly 88,000 acres in Ventura County had no effect on Sunday’s game, but did force the Rams to cancel practice Nov. 8 as “some players, coaches and staff were under mandatory evacuation.”

McVay confirmed in a conference call Nov. 9 that at least 45 Rams coaches, players and employees were evacuated from the area because of the wildfires.

“We just felt like, most importantly, was for the guys to be with their families, their wives, their kids and kind of be that support structure and do things the right way and not have them come in, be totally distracted, like I know I would be if I was in their role,” McVay said.

Twyman said other Rams players “will be pulling money together to donate at some time,” but is not sure if the money will come from their game checks or from an alternative source.

“When we’ve got a great group that everybody has a voice, then we feel like we’re able to kind of handle things in the best way possible, make the most of the circumstance. That’s kind of how you approach it…Being there for them as we go through a little bit of adversity is something that we felt like was the most important thing,” McVay said.

Olivia Schouten
News Editor