Jason Adjepong Worilds (born March 3, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

outside linebacker who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

Early life

Worilds attended Carteret High School in Carteret,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

where he was a two-sport athlete in football and track. He played on the defensive line as well as

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and fullback. During his junior year, he posted 87 tackles, 22 of them for a loss and 12 sacks. On the opposite side of the ball, he had 61 carries for 330 yards and four touchdowns. He earned Associated Press All-State honors. 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. Coming out of high school, Worilds was rated the seventh best strongside defensive end by Rivals.com. 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. Worilds picked up where he left off in 2007, and had two

Quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 QB 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, Jason 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, Jason 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.

Professional career

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Worilds in the second round (52nd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. On March 3, 2014, he signed his $9.754 million transition tender to stay with Pittsburgh. 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. Multiple sources speculated Worilds chose to retire to dedicate his life to his religion as a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. He finished his career with 25.5 career sacks.

NFL statistics

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

Personal life

After retiring from the NFL, Worilds announced he left football and became a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worilds, Jason 1988 births Living people African-American players of American football American football defensive ends American football linebackers American Jehovah's Witnesses Carteret High School alumni Converts to Jehovah's Witnesses People from Carteret, New Jersey Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey Virginia Tech Hokies football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people