Jason Worilds

Jason Adjepong Worilds (born March 3, 1988) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia Tech. He retired during the prime of his career to become a Jehovah’s Witness.

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. 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 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.

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

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