Jason Adjepong Worilds (born March 3, 1988) 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

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

and was selected by the Steelers in the second round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. He retired during the prime of his career to become one of

Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co- ...

Early life

Worilds attended Carteret High School in Carteret,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

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

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 (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

hurries in the opener against

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. 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.

Professional career

The

selected Worilds in the second round (52nd overall) of the

. 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. Worilds chose to retire to dedicate his life to Jehovah God as one of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

. 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

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio

Worilds talking about his careerswitch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worilds, Jason 1988 births Living people 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 Middlesex County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey Players of American football from Union County, New Jersey Virginia Tech Hokies football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen