Mount Airy native Rob Havenstein recently announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons as a right tackle, closing a career that included a Super Bowl championship with the Los Angeles Rams.
Havenstein attended Linganore High School and played his college ball at Wisconsin. He spent his entire professional career with the Rams after they selected him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Havenstein said the length and success of his career once felt impossible.
“I probably would’ve laughed and been like, ‘Hey, unicorns are real as well. When you have kids, they’re going to go to bed on time,’ all those fantasies you hear about and everything like that,” Havenstein said on Glenn Clark Radio March 2. “It’s been an incredible run. It’s nothing I could have dreamed of what my career would actually shape out to be.”
Despite his disbelief, Havenstein built a career as one of the Rams’ most dependable offensive linemen. However, he didn’t even start believing in the possibility of an NFL career until he could keep up with how his teammates prepared at Wisconsin.
“I saw those guys getting drafted, and I was like, ‘Oh, this might be a real thing,'” Havenstein said. “Like, I’ve actually got a chance here to kind of make it in this league or at least have a start.”
Havenstein said his work ethic and attention to detail are what helped him stay in the league for more than a decade. The 6-foot-8, 323-pound right tackle started 148 regular-season games across 11 seasons with the Rams. In 2025, Havenstein played 461 offensive snaps (255 in pass protection and 206 in run blocking) and was credited with just one sack and six quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.
“The secret sauce is just the basics,” he said. “You heard Kobe talking about it all the time. ‘I’m going to do the fundamentals better than you.’ That’s kind of the approach I took.”
Havenstein also mentioned the influence veteran teammates had on him, shaping his approach to the game.
“I was lucky enough to have guys like Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan come [to the Rams] in 2017 and kind of take me under their wing and really show me what a 10-plus-year NFL veteran looks like,” he said.
That longevity carried him into the highlight of his career — Super Bowl LVI at the end of the 2021 season, a 23-20 win against Cincinnati.
“Even just talking about it now, I’ve got tingles kind of going up my spine,” Havenstein said.
He could recall the exact moment they won.
“As soon as my feet left the sideline to hit that grass and I realized, ‘That game is over, we have won the Super Bowl,’ I’m talking about tears streaming down my face,” he said.
The physical toll of his position and the necessary time commitment led Havenstein to his decision to retire.
“I don’t physically think I could do it anymore, No. 1, or do it to the level that I have set for myself,” Havenstein said. “… I’ve got three kids. I want to make soccer games.”
For now, Havenstein plans to spend time with his family and explore other opportunities after football with his wife Meaghan and daughters Bria, Lucy and Cora.
“We’re just kind of taking it easy right now … seeing what’s out there,” he said.
For more from Havenstein, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox