Steelers: What in the Worilds Just Happened?

Many of Steeler Nation are waking up to the news that now former Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds has decided to step away from the game of football entirely at the age of 27 at a point where he was set to make as much as possibly $8 million a year for the next several years. Worilds announced his retirement via Twitter Tuesday night just passed midnight.

"“I appreciate all of the interest from the organizations that have reached out to us the past few days. With that being said, after much thought and consideration I have chosen to step away from football as I have opted to pursue other interests. I am especially grateful of the opportunity to play before some of the greatest fans in football today. Despite any concern and speculation that may ensue, I appreciate those that are respectful of my decision.” – Jason Worilds"

So that’s that. He’s retiring and that’s all he has to say about that.

Worilds just turned 27 last week and was a second-round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech. He signed a transition tag to stay with the Steelers last season and was paid about $9.7 million. He led the team in sacks over the past two seasons with seven ½ last year.

Think about this for a minute, Jason Worilds was drafted to be James Harrison’s eventual replacement and at this moment Harrison is probably lifting a minivan in his morning workouts with the intent on playing somewhere this season and Worilds is retiring.

It’s just so odd, it’s hard to comprehend. Worilds said after the Steelers drafted Jarvis Jones with their first overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft that he felt like his job was being taken away from him and now he’s voluntarily taking his job away from himself at a time when he could have made millions of dollars.

If his heart is just not in the game, I guess I’d appreciate his honesty and willingness to step away as opposed to signing a lucrative deal with a team and not being able to fulfill the terms of the contract.

The NFL had two other players announce retirements at young ages on Tuesday with 49ers LB Patrick Willis stepping down at age 30 and Titans QB Jake Locker shutting it down at the age of 26. For fans it’s hard to wrap your head around the idea of literally leaving millions of dollars on the table playing a game that we’ve loved our whole lives. Some guys are just a different breed, I guess.

What are your thoughts Steeler Nation? What do you think is the reason Jason Worilds is stepping away from football?

Next: Steelers Morning Huddle

More from Still Curtain

Home/Steelers Free Agency