Jason Worilds

Jason Worilds

Worilds with Steelers in 2012
No. 97, 93
Position:	Linebacker
Personal information
Born:	(1988-03-03) March 3, 1988 (age 36) Rahway, New Jersey, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	262 lb (119 kg)
Career information
High school:	Carteret (Carteret, New Jersey)
College:	Virginia Tech
NFL draft:	2010  / round: 2 / pick: 52
Career history
Pittsburgh Steelers (2010–2014)
Career highlights and awards 2× Second-team All-ACC (2008, 2009) Career NFL statistics Total tackles: 204 Sacks: 25.5 Forced fumbles: 4 Fumble recoveries: 3 Interceptions: 1 Stats at Pro Football Reference Jason Adjepong Worilds (born March 3, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. He retired during the prime of his career to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Early life Worilds attended Carteret High School in Carteret, New Jersey where he was a two-sport athlete in football and track. He played on the defensive line as well as linebacker and fullback. [1] During his junior year, he posted 87 tackles, 22 of them for a loss and 12 sacks. [1] On the opposite side of the ball, he had 61 carries for 330 yards and four touchdowns. [1] He earned Associated Press All-State honors. [1] His success continued on into his senior year in which he had 107 tackles, 18 for a loss and 10 sacks, again earning All-State honors and becoming the first player in school history to have the honor in consecutive honors. [1] Coming out of high school, Worilds was rated the seventh best strongside defensive end by Rivals.com. [2] He was ranked the eight best in the country from scout.com. College career Worilds began by seeing the field in two games on defense and special teams. He blocked a punt against the North Carolina Tar Heels and returned it for seven yards. After though, he elected to have season-ending shoulder surgery and was granted a medical red-shirt. [1] Worilds picked up where he left off in 2007, and had two quarterback hurries in the opener against East Carolina University. In a game against Ohio, Worilds suffered a high-ankle sprain and missed the following game against William & Mary. The next season, he started 12 games and played in 13 games. He was 4th on his team in tackles with 62. His 21 quarterback hurries led the Hokies. Jason posted 7 tackles against Virginia Tech's bitter rivals, University of Virginia. However, he had to sit out of the Orange Bowl because of a shoulder injury. In 2009, Worlids started in all of Virginia Tech's 13 games. During that time, he recorded 49 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 1 pass broken up, 1 pass defended, 1 forced fumble, 42 quarterback hurries, and a whopping 32 quarterback hits. After his junior year, Worilds decided to declare for the 2010 NFL Draft. He finished his college career with 41 games played, 25 games started, 132 tackles (62 solo tackles), 34 tackles for loss, 15.00 sacks, 2 pass break-ups, 2 passes defended, 67 quarterback hits, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 blocked kick. [1] Professional career Pre-draft measurables Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 254 lb (115 kg) 32+7⁄8 in (0.84 m) 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) 4.72 s 1.62 s 2.71 s 4.29 s 6.95 s 38+1⁄2 in (0.98 m) 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) 24 reps All values from NFL Combine [3] The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Worilds in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2010 NFL draft. [4] On March 3, 2014, he signed his $9.754 million transition tender to stay with Pittsburgh. [5] "I appreciate all of the interest from the organizations that have reached out to us the past few days, with that being said, after much thought & consideration I have chosen to step away from football as I have opted to pursue other interests. I am especially grateful of the opportunity to play before some of the greatest fans in football today. Despite any concern and speculation that may ensue, I appreciate those that are respectful of my decision." Jason Worilds [6] On March 11, 2015, Worilds unexpectedly announced his retirement from the NFL at the age of 27 and after five years as a Pittsburgh Steeler. The choice to retire surprised many due to the start of the free agency period starting the day prior. He became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and was expected to receive a $7-$8 million salary with at least $15 million guaranteed. [7] Worilds chose to retire to dedicate his life to Jehovah God as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. [8] [9] [10] He finished his career with 25.5 career sacks. NFL statistics Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD 2010 PIT 14 17 12 5 2.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2011 PIT 12 38 27 11 3.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2012 PIT 16 27 23 4 5.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2013 PIT 15 63 43 20 8.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2014 PIT 16 59 39 20 7.5 1 2 0 1 30 30 30 0 2 Career 73 204 144 60 25.5 4 3 0 1 30 30 30 0 5 [11] Key GP: games played COMB: combined tackles TOTAL: total tackles AST: assisted tackles SACK: sacks FF: forced fumbles FR: fumble recoveries FR YDS: fumble return yards INT: interceptions IR YDS: interception return yards AVG IR: average interception return LNG: longest interception return TD: interceptions returned for touchdown PD: passes defensed References "Jason Worilds" . Retrieved December 15, 2011. "Football Power Rankings: 2009 Defensive Line". Rivals.com. May 13, 2009. "NFL Draft Profile: Jason Worilds". NFL.com. Retrieved July 6, 2018. "2010 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 13, 2023. "Jason Worilds Signs His $9.754 Million Transition Tender". Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014. Wesseling, Chris (March 11, 2015). "Ex-Steelers LB Jason Worilds shockingly retires". NFL.com. Retrieved July 6, 2018. Varley, Teresa (March 11, 2015). "Worilds retires from NFL". Steelers.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015. "Jason Worilds: There Are Nothing But Wins When You Serve Jehovah". jw.org. July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Bouchette, Ed (March 11, 2015). "Worilds says he's quitting football, and Steelers believe he means it". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved March 11, 2015. "Jason Worilds: There Are Nothing But Wins When You Serve Jehovah". "Jason Worilds Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved May 11, 2015. External links Pittsburgh Steelers bio Archived May 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Virginia Tech Hokies bio Worilds talking about his careerswitch This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.