Andrew Norwell (born October 25, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

in 2014. Norwell has also played for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

High school career

Norwell attended Anderson High School in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

College career

Norwell played

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

from 2010 to 2013. He started 39 of 50 games. During his true freshman year, Norwell was the primary backup at right tackle in 2010 and played in 11 games. He named to a Big Ten all-freshman team by Rivals.com. During his sophomore year, Norwell started 13 games and started at both the left guard and left tackle positions. He was named honorable mention all-Big Ten. During his junior season, Norwell played more downs than any player on offense with 862. The Ohio State coaches named him co-offensive lineman of the year. He helped Ohio State average 242.2 yards per game rushing, ranking 10th nationally in 2012, lead the Big Ten in scoring at 37.1 points per game, and was named first-team all-Big Ten. Norwell was named to the first-team all-Big Ten Conference for the second consecutive season. He graduated in May 2014 with a degree in communications.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Despite his decorated college career, Norwell went undrafted in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New ...

and signed with the

as a free agent. Norwell signed a three-year, $1.5 million contract on May 12, 2014. Norwell was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 7. Following Week 10,

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

rated Norwell as the ninth best guard in the NFL, ahead of two other high-profile rookie guards,

Zack Martin Zachary Edward Martin (born November 20, 1990) is an American football offensive guard for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted 16th overall by the Cowboys in the f ...

and

Joel Bitonio Joel Michael Bitonio (born October 11, 1991) is an American football guard for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Browns in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at N ...

. His insertion into the starting lineup at left guard helped stabilize the offensive line, and over his last six games at left guard,

rated Norwell as the fourth-best left guard in the NFL. His emergence into the starting lineup helped the Panthers rank seventh in the NFL in rushing, including a league-leading 975 yards over the last five games. He also helped the Panthers to back-to-back division titles for the first time since the formation of the

NFC South The National Football Conference – Southern Division or NFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created prior to the 2002 NFL season, when ...

division. Norwell was also among the least penalized players at the position and through the entire season, did not allow a single sack and only one quarterback hit. Through the first three games of the 2015 season, Norwell allowed only two quarterback pressures and one sack. Norwell was part of the Panthers team that played in

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

. On March 7, 2017, the Panthers placed a second-round tender on Norwell, who was set to be a restricted free agent. On April 17, 2017, Norwell officially signed his tender with the Panthers. Norwell started all 16 games at left guard, on his way to being named first-team All-Pro. He was also ranked as the third best guard in the league according to ''Pro Football Focus''.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 15, 2018, Norwell signed a five-year, $66.5 million contract with the

with $30 million guaranteed, which at the time made him the highest-paid guard in the league. He started the first 11 games at left guard before suffering an ankle injury in Week 12. He was placed on injured reserve on November 26, 2018. On November 28, 2020, Norwell was placed on injured reserve after suffering a forearm injury in Week 11. On December 19, 2020, Norwell was activated off of injured reserve. In March 2021, Norwell agreed to a contract restructuring that resulted in a pay cut and shortening the remainder of his contract to one year, making him a free agent after the 2021 season.

Washington Commanders

Norwell signed a two-year contract with

on March 17, 2022.

References

External links

Washington Commanders bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwell, Andrew 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football offensive guards Ohio State Buckeyes football players Carolina Panthers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Washington Commanders players