The Jets and Giants may not be in the big game, but local football fans still have a rooting interest.  Jason Worilds, rookie outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers (#97) and former standout at Carteret High School, is going to the Super Bowl.

Worilds, who ranks second on the Steelers’ depth chart at left outside linebacker behind Pro Bowler LaMarr Woodley, was a 1^st team All-State player and High School Heisman trophy winner in 2004 and 2005 for the Carteret Ramblers, before moving on to star at Virginia Tech, where he recorded 16 sacks, five forces fumble recoveries.  He was named a 3^rd Team All-American and 1^st Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference player in 2009. 

He’s the first Carteret High School graduate to play in the NFL since Art McMahon spent two seasons with the Boston/New England Patriots in the early 70s (McMahon also played two seasons with the Patriots when the franchise was still a part of the American Football League.)  Worilds has seen playing time on defense, recording 17 tackles and two sacks in the regular season, but has seen the majority of his work on special teams, handling blocking duties on kickoffs and punts.  

Eight years ago, however, he was known for his skill with a saxophone, not a football.

“He came here without one lick of knowledge about football as a freshman,” said Robert Molarz, Worilds’ coach at Carteret High School and current head coach at St. Joseph’s in Metuchen.  “He was an all-state soccer player and an all-state saxophone player in elementary school.”

Worilds started as a linebacker during his freshman season at Carteret, during which time he impressed the coaching staff with his work ethic and even earned some playing time with the varsity team late in blowout games before being switched to defensive end his sophomore year. 

“He was very involved as a freshman,” said Justin Muniz, linebackers and running backs coach at CHS.  “He showed great maturity, paid great attention to the practices.  Most freshmen want to go home and play video games; Jason always stuck around.”

“There’s some tremendous players that don’t have the size and speed,” Molarz said about the then-6’2”, 225 lb. Worilds.  “His speed and quickness were incredible, and his work ethic was off the charts.”

He wasn’t afraid to take charge, either.  The Carteret High School football team’s policy is to only name seniors as captains, says Molarz, but by the time he was a junior, Worilds was already looked at as the unofficial team leader.  “It wasn’t forced.  (The other players) realized that if they followed his lead, they were going to be better on and off the field.”

Worilds played on both sides of the ball throughout his high school football career, recording 849 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns as a fullback, while also showing skill as a blocking back.  “The all-time leading rusher in school history, Cederic Brown, played at the same time as Jason,” said Muniz.  “A lot of Cederic’s runs were a result of Jason’s blocking.”

It was on the defense that Worilds made his biggest impact, though, recording 292 tackles, 31 sacks, three interceptions, 42 tackles for losses, and 14 forced fumbles in his playing career at Carteret.  When he graduated in 2006, Worilds had full scholarship offers to 45 different schools, according to Molarz, and chose Virginia Tech largely because of the school’s propensity for placing defensive ends in the NFL.

Virginia Tech went to bowl games in each of his three seasons with the team – two Orange Bowls and a Chic-Fil-A Bowl – before Worilds chose to declare for the NFL draft.  He was projected to go in the fourth round.  “He said to me ‘Coach, I’ve got from January to April to prove I belong in the first or second round, and I’m going to do it,’” said Molarz about Worilds’ decision to leave school after three years.  And he did.  “Each day, he’d be another few players higher” in the projections, said Molarz.

Worilds had made a promise to his mother to finish school before attempting to go pro, though, and made sure to keep that promise by accelerating his course load.  When he was drafted by the Steelers in the second round (52^nd overall) in the 2010 NFL draft, he was also completing his undergraduate degree in just three years.

“Character-wise, he’s a once-in-a-generation or maybe once-in-a-lifetime guy,” said Muniz.  “We’ve had plenty of great or at least very good players, but no one like him.  As a fan, a player, and now a coach, Jason is the most valuable player that I’ve seen.”

Molarz will be in attendance Sunday in Dallas when Worilds and the Steelers take on the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV, just as he was for the playoff games against the Baltimore Ravens and the Jets last month.  “It is incredible (on game day in Pittsburgh).  I’m not used to standing the entire game, but everyone there does.  They’re very passionate and knowledgeable.  There isn’t a single person that isn’t wearing Steelers colors.”

Molarz, a Giants fan, included?  “Myself included.  Needless to say, I’ve got two teams now.”