Jerel Worthy
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Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
 Worthy with the Green Bay Packers in 2012 | |||||||||
| No. 56, 69, 94, 99 | |||||||||
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| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | April 26, 1990 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 298 lb (135 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) | ||||||||
| College | Michigan State (2008–2011) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2012: 2nd round, 51st overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Jerel Worthy (born April 26, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft.[1][2][3][4]
Worthy was born in Dayton, Ohio. He originally attended Chaminade-Julienne High School in Dayton, Ohio but then transferred to Wayne High School in Huber Heights, where he played high school football for the Wayne Warriors. As a senior for the Warriors, Worthy recorded 50 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 12 hurries.[5] Worthy was also responsible for seven pass breakups and two fumble recoveries [5]
Worthy's performance during his senior season earned him a spot on the Superprep and Prepstars Midwest Teams.[5]
College career
Recruiting
Coming out of High School, Worthy was ranked the 53rd Best Defensive Tackle by Rivals.com, 78th by Scout.com, and 93rd by Scouts Inc.[5] He was also invited to play June 14 Big 33 Football Classic.[5] Worthy received scholarship offers from Michigan State, Akron, Cincinnati, Marshall, Nebraska, and Ohio.[6] He was six foot two inches, 288 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds who bench pressed a maximum of 335 pounds and squatted a maximum of 470 pounds.[6] He had a 2.8 Grade-point average.[6]
Michigan State
Worthy attended Michigan State University, where he played for the Michigan State Spartans football team from 2009 to 2011. Worthy was redshirted for his freshman year but was still named the scout team defensive player of the week versus Eastern Michigan.[5] Coming on to the scene in 2009, he started 11 of 13 games and ranked second on the team for tackles for loss and sacks.[5] He was named a midseason All-Big Ten and All-American by Phil Steele.[7] At the end of the season, he was named as a freshman All-American[8]
As a sophomore, Worthy started all 13 games at defensive tackle and lead the linemen with 40 tackles, eight of which went for a loss.[5] He also had a team best four sacks. He was a collegefootballnews.com All-Sophomore second-team selection, honorable mention Big-Ten selection by the coaches and media, and was presented Michigan State's Outstanding Underclassman Award.[5]
For what turned out to be his final season at Michigan State, Worthy had 30 tackles (10.5 for loss), 3.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, and 14 hits during the regular season. He was named a consensus first-team All-American honors by the Associated Press.[9] He was also an All-Big ten selection from the coaches and media. Worthy became the first defensive tackle since Ronald Curl in 1971 to be named an All-American at Michigan State.[5]
On January 4, 2012, Worthy announced he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL draft.[10]