Barron Winfred Wortham (born November 1, 1969) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UTEP Miners The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...

Early life

Born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, Wortham attended

Everman High School Everman Joe C. Bean High School (commonly referred to as Everman, Everman High School, and EHS and also E-Block) is a public secondary school located in Everman, Texas (a suburb south of Fort Worth, Texas). The school is a part of the Everman I ...

, where he practiced football and track. He accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Texas-El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas System ...

. Although he entered spring practices with a leg injury he suffered at an All-Star high school game, he was able to earn the starter position at

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

, leading the team with 129 tackles and a career-high 6 sacks. As a sophomore, he posted 148 tackles, 4 sacks and 4 fumble recoveries. As a junior, he had 138 tackles and 2 sacks. He had 16 tackles and one blocked punt against the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. As a senior his team only won one game, but he registered 151 tackles (breaking the conference's career record) and was named the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

defensive player of the year. He tallied 26 tackles, one forced fumble and one interceptions against the

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. He left as the school's All-time leader in career tackles (566) and tackles for loss (43), 12 sacks, 4 interceptions, 12 passes defensed, 6 fumble recoveries and 4 forced fumbles. He also matched Raymond Morris as the only players in school history to lead the team in tackles four times. In 2014, he was named to the

Centennial football team. In 2018, he was inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans

Wortham was selected by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in the sixth round (194th overall) of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. As a rookie, he was a backup

, playing on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and as a short-yardage blocking fullback. In the season finale against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, he suffered a torn left anterior cruciate ligament. He collected 22 defensive tackles, 11

tackles (second on the team) and one fumble recovery. In 1995, he started 5 out of 16 games, replacing the injured

Micheal Barrow Micheal Colvin Barrow (born April 19, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning consensus A ...

and

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

. He registered 38 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and 10

tackles. He also received the

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

after recovering from his previous injury. In 1996, he became the starter at

after Smith suffered a season-ending quadriceps injury in the first game against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. He posted 78 tackles (fourth on the team), 2 sacks, 4 passes defensed, 2 fumble recoveries and 3

tackles. In 1997, he started 16 games at

, making 97 tackles (led the team), one pass defensed and one forced fumble. In 1998,

Joe Bowden Joe Tarrod Bowden, III (born February 25, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers / Tennessee Oilers / Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. He p ...

took over his role and Wortham finished with 9 defensive tackles and 8

tackles. In 1999, he was named the starter in a season that saw the Titans reach

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

, while registering 81 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback pressures, 3 fumble recoveries and 7

tackles. Following the signing of

Randall Godfrey Randall Euralentris Godfrey (born April 6, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). Godfrey played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football ...

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

and the drafting of Keith Bullock, Wortham became expendable and was released on April 26, 2000. He left after starting 51 out of 92 regular-season games.

Dallas Cowboys

In 2000, the

had a lot of turnover at the

position and one of the moves made to improve the depth was the signing of Wortham in

on May 4. He was limited during the preseason, after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee in the second week of training camp.

Dat Nguyen Dat Tan Nguyen (; , ; born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for seven seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas A& ...

suffered a left knee sprain in the second contest of the season and Wortham replaced him at

. He went on to start 11 games, finishing with 92 tackles (fifth on the team), 6 tackles for loss, one quarterback pressure, one pass defensed and a career-high 2 interceptions. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

After his playing career, he founded the Barron Wortham Football Academy. His son, Barron Wortham Jr., also played football at UTEP, following in his father's footsteps as a linebacker. Wortham Jr. played in a total of 14 games and majored in graphic design during his time at UTEP.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wortham, Barron 1969 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas American football linebackers UTEP Miners football players Houston Oilers players Tennessee Oilers players Tennessee Titans players Dallas Cowboys players