WATCH: Andrew Whitworth tells amazing Derrick Barnes story during Walter Payton acceptance speech

Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth recalled an amazing story during his Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year acceptance speech Friday night ahead of his Super Bowl 56 appearance this Sunday.

"I made it to the NFL, big Whit."

Lions rookie Derrick Barnes ran up to Whitworth at the end of their Week 7 game.

And put everything into perspective. #WPMOY pic.twitter.com/2eJ6W7zS7l

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“But one experience brought it all together for me this year, and it happened to be on a football field and our game against the Detroit Lions,” Whitworth said during his acceptance speech. “I had a young player from the Lions and when the final horn went off, I saw him sprinting over and I didn’t know what was going on. Like we’d known each other forever. I couldn’t place it. It made me so nervous. Like I actually played long enough that a coaches son, or players son is playing against me.”

That wasn’t the case, it was actually Lions rookie Derrick Barnes. A Louisville, Kentucky native that graduated from Holy Cross High School and went on to play his college ball at Purdue, Barnes is young enough to have been mentored by Whitworth during his tenure as a Cincinnati Bengal from 2006-2016.

“He said, ‘Hey, man, you’re not gonna remember me. I’m Derrick Barnes. You spent time with me when you were a young player in Cincinnati at the Boys and Girls Club. And it meant the world. You used to sit with me and talk to me about life, and I was just a little kid. I want you to know how much it meant to me because you know what the main thing I want to say with I made it I made it to the NFL, big Whit,'” Whitworth said Barnes had told him.

This is a great example that in football, and more importantly in life, you treat everyone with respect. You never know who someone is going to turn out to be. Over a decade later, Whitworth and Barnes got to experience their prior experience come full circle, as Whitworth unknowingly mentored a budding football star and now, Barnes is Whitworth’s peer in the NFL.

Considered the league’s most prestigious honor, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide recognizes NFL players who have exhibited excellence on the field, and whose passion to impact lives extends beyond the game. Here’s a look now at this year’s nominees, according to NFL.com.

Whitworth’s story embodies what the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award is all about and proves the impact NFL athletes can have on your everyday person.