Andrew Norwell (born October 25, 1991) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

guard. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Ohio State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

and 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

Early life and college

Norwell attended Anderson High School in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He played

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

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 and signed with the Carolina Panthers 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 rated Norwell as the ninth best guard in the NFL, ahead of two other high-profile rookie guards, Zack Martin and Joel Bitonio. His insertion into the starting lineup at left guard helped stabilize the offensive line, and over his last six games at left guard, Pro Football Focus 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 before the 2002 NFL season when th ...

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. 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, he 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.

Washington Commanders

Norwell signed a two-year contract with

on March 17, 2022. He was named the starting left guard in 2022, starting 16 games. Norwell was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on May 30, 2023, due to an elbow injury, and was released on July 24, 2023.

Personal life

Norwell's older brother, Chris, is the head football coach at Thomas More University.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes 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