Worthen's defensive play for Portland State ices his future in football, not hockey
Freshman safety sees more and more action, delivering the hits
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122651116767312100
Cody Worthen says making a big hit “always gets your adrenaline going.”
Maybe that's why he chose football over hockey. He doesn't have to worry about being sent to the penalty box.
Growing up in Seabrook, Texas, Worthen played both sports, and ran sprints in high school track.
But football grew on him, and now he's an up-and-coming freshman free safety for Portland State.
When he was 7, Worthen wanted to play football, but the local youth program required kids to be at least 8 years old. A family friend suggested that his parents sign him up for hockey in the meantime. Worthen quickly showed a knack for skating - fast - and playing defense. He liked the contact, too.
Hockey helped him prepare physically for football, year after year.
“I always felt like skating got my legs stronger and helped with my conditioning,” he says.
In high school, Worthen ran mostly on relays but clocked 10.8 or 10.9 seconds in the open 100 meters, by his recollection.
He continued to play hockey, and a Junior B team in San Antonio invited him to try out for its hockey team after graduation from Clear Lake High. But it was clear that Worthen's heart and mind were set on football.
He made his first college start last week against Montana, and did well, until taking a shot that left him with a grade 2 concussion. He hopes to be able to play Saturday at Montana State.
He's been walking around with cuts on his nose and forehead from a collision with a Montana running back.
“It looks like I've been in a bar fight, or a hockey fight,” he says.
How did a Texas boy wind up a PSU Viking?
Former Houston Oilers coach Jerry Glanville, now the head man at Portland State, had a lot to do with that. Glanville, who was with the Oilers from 1984 through 1989 (and head coach the last four years of that span), was calling around last year, looking for a safety.
Worthen knew of Glanville but had no idea he had become the coach at Portland State. But Glanville liked what he saw of Worthen on videotape, called his Clear Lake coach and got the ball rolling.
Worthen's family, which lives about 30 miles from Houston, bought into the move out west.
The son of a former Texas A&M baseball player, Worthen's family roots for the Aggies but has family ties to the University of Texas, too. But the team the family follows the most is the Houston Texas (they have season tickets), and before that, it was always the Oilers.
“Not the Cowboys,” stresses Cathy Worthen, Cody's mother.
So the Worthens were well aware of Glanville.
“He always brought a lot of color to the Oilers,” Cathy Worthen says.
Portland State was long distance, but “it just felt like it wasn't a complete stranger recruiting him,” she says. “It felt like maybe it was meant to be.”
Cody Worthen says it's ironic that he's here, because “I was planning on playing football somewhere close to home, and all my friends wanted to move out and get far away. I was the one who wanted to stay close to home, and I wound up being the guy farthest away.”
Worthen says he wasn't deterred by the weather that greeted him when he took a recruiting visit to PSU during spring ball.
“They said the weather had been nice all week, but when I got there, there was a cold front, and it was freezing,” he says. “But I was OK with that.”
Worthen has endeared himself to the Viking coaching staff. Secondary coach Alundis Brice calls him “Rocky,” after the Sylvester Stallone movie character. “Coach Brice says the way I talk sounds like 'Rocky,'” Worthen says. “And now, with my nose cut up, I look like him, too.”
If things work out, Cody will return home to share at least some of the summer with his family. They like to spend a lot of the summer at their house on the west end of Galveston, Texas. Fishing is a major activity, and one of Cody's favorite hobbies. Offshore, there's red snapper and kingfish, and occasionally shark. In the warm water next to their home, they're likely to pull up sheephead or redfish.
Worthen also likes to surf at Galveston or Corpus Christi. It's a sport his older brother Jason enjoys, too. They've talked of someday going to the big waves of Hawaii or Costa Rica. “Where there's pretty water,” Cody says.
But before any of that, Worthen and the Vikings have two games left to be played in the 2008 season.
The 5-11, 185-pound former hockey defenseman is excited, because at one point the Viking coaches talked about possibly redshirting him, and now he's making a significant contribution (21 tackles this season, plus two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries).
And the Portland State defense has been playing better, all in all.
“Last week was one of our best games,” he says.
Freshman safety sees more and more action, delivering the hits
http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=122651116767312100
Cody Worthen says making a big hit “always gets your adrenaline going.”
Maybe that's why he chose football over hockey. He doesn't have to worry about being sent to the penalty box.
Growing up in Seabrook, Texas, Worthen played both sports, and ran sprints in high school track.
But football grew on him, and now he's an up-and-coming freshman free safety for Portland State.
When he was 7, Worthen wanted to play football, but the local youth program required kids to be at least 8 years old. A family friend suggested that his parents sign him up for hockey in the meantime. Worthen quickly showed a knack for skating - fast - and playing defense. He liked the contact, too.
Hockey helped him prepare physically for football, year after year.
“I always felt like skating got my legs stronger and helped with my conditioning,” he says.
In high school, Worthen ran mostly on relays but clocked 10.8 or 10.9 seconds in the open 100 meters, by his recollection.
He continued to play hockey, and a Junior B team in San Antonio invited him to try out for its hockey team after graduation from Clear Lake High. But it was clear that Worthen's heart and mind were set on football.
He made his first college start last week against Montana, and did well, until taking a shot that left him with a grade 2 concussion. He hopes to be able to play Saturday at Montana State.
He's been walking around with cuts on his nose and forehead from a collision with a Montana running back.
“It looks like I've been in a bar fight, or a hockey fight,” he says.
How did a Texas boy wind up a PSU Viking?
Former Houston Oilers coach Jerry Glanville, now the head man at Portland State, had a lot to do with that. Glanville, who was with the Oilers from 1984 through 1989 (and head coach the last four years of that span), was calling around last year, looking for a safety.
Worthen knew of Glanville but had no idea he had become the coach at Portland State. But Glanville liked what he saw of Worthen on videotape, called his Clear Lake coach and got the ball rolling.
Worthen's family, which lives about 30 miles from Houston, bought into the move out west.
The son of a former Texas A&M baseball player, Worthen's family roots for the Aggies but has family ties to the University of Texas, too. But the team the family follows the most is the Houston Texas (they have season tickets), and before that, it was always the Oilers.
“Not the Cowboys,” stresses Cathy Worthen, Cody's mother.
So the Worthens were well aware of Glanville.
“He always brought a lot of color to the Oilers,” Cathy Worthen says.
Portland State was long distance, but “it just felt like it wasn't a complete stranger recruiting him,” she says. “It felt like maybe it was meant to be.”
Cody Worthen says it's ironic that he's here, because “I was planning on playing football somewhere close to home, and all my friends wanted to move out and get far away. I was the one who wanted to stay close to home, and I wound up being the guy farthest away.”
Worthen says he wasn't deterred by the weather that greeted him when he took a recruiting visit to PSU during spring ball.
“They said the weather had been nice all week, but when I got there, there was a cold front, and it was freezing,” he says. “But I was OK with that.”
Worthen has endeared himself to the Viking coaching staff. Secondary coach Alundis Brice calls him “Rocky,” after the Sylvester Stallone movie character. “Coach Brice says the way I talk sounds like 'Rocky,'” Worthen says. “And now, with my nose cut up, I look like him, too.”
If things work out, Cody will return home to share at least some of the summer with his family. They like to spend a lot of the summer at their house on the west end of Galveston, Texas. Fishing is a major activity, and one of Cody's favorite hobbies. Offshore, there's red snapper and kingfish, and occasionally shark. In the warm water next to their home, they're likely to pull up sheephead or redfish.
Worthen also likes to surf at Galveston or Corpus Christi. It's a sport his older brother Jason enjoys, too. They've talked of someday going to the big waves of Hawaii or Costa Rica. “Where there's pretty water,” Cody says.
But before any of that, Worthen and the Vikings have two games left to be played in the 2008 season.
The 5-11, 185-pound former hockey defenseman is excited, because at one point the Viking coaches talked about possibly redshirting him, and now he's making a significant contribution (21 tackles this season, plus two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries).
And the Portland State defense has been playing better, all in all.
“Last week was one of our best games,” he says.
