“He’s my favorite player in the NFL,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said after the Super Bowl. “Man, he can do everything, he can play inside, outside. Man, he’s a walking Hall of Famer right now.”
But the stats and big plays in big moments, impressive as they are, don’t begin to demonstrate Witherspoon’s full value to the team. Only 25 years old, Witherspoon has already emerged as a leader and tone-setter for the NFL’s best defense, bringing a level of energy and intensity that is infectious on the field.
“We love him, and it’s because of the energy and the competitiveness and the person and his love of the game and love for his teammates,” Macdonald once said of Witherspoon. “It’s infectious. How can you not play 1000 percent when 21 is on the field doing the stuff that he does? We talk about force multipliers—he’s a force multiplier.”
Despite wanting to get a new deal done, Witherspoon took part in all of the voluntary offseason program, and has not missed anything in training camp, bringing his usual high-energy, full-throttle approach to practice. That’s not always the case in the NFL for players awaiting new deals, but Witherspoon explained his stance earlier this week, saying, “If you’re not practicing, you’re not getting ready for the season because everybody else in the league is practicing and they’re getting better. That’s where my mind is at right now. I’m focused on what I need to do right now, I’m not really worried about anything else.”
Earlier in camp, Macdonald expressed appreciation for the way Witherspoon was handling the contract situation, saying, “To be able to take whatever’s going on in that front and compartmentalize that, shows you his maturity and his commitment to the team. And his own personal development, too. How much he loves football, and how he wants to be out here and try to get better. I really respect his approach so far, it has been great.”