Evan Worthington lives out one dream while still chasing another
Evan Worthington, who played DB and primarily safety for Colorado from 2014-18, announced recently that he'd joined the coaching staff at Six Zero Strength + Fitness, a premiere 12,000-foot training facility in Centennial run by Colorado and NFL alum Matt McChesney.
Worthington, who was a standout at Cherokee Trail High School, earning all-Colorado honors from the Denver Post as a senior in 2013.
Worthington was signed as an UFA by the Baltimore Ravens in April and waived in early May. Since then, he's been keeping his eye on the target in terms of continuing a professional career while recently, McChesney announced Worthington was joining the coaching staff at Six Zero.
Worthington and McChesney's relationship goes back awhile, as the former was a Six Zero Academy pupil himself in high school. Thus when things didn't pan out with the Ravens, and with Worthington possessing an interest in coaching, joining McChesney's staff was a logical and natural move.
"Being a coach at the gym is something I want to do with my life," Worthington said. "I want to be around football and help kids get better. It’s something that excites me and something I want to be a part of...I started training (at SixZero Academy) when I was a junior in high school so I’ve known Matt for a long time. I always came back after college to get my workouts in over there."
Worthington finished his Colorado career with 167 career tackles and 15 PBUs. In 2017 as a junior, he led the team with three interceptions.
Worthington sees a chance in his capacity at Six Zero Academy to help give younger DBs an edge for when they look to transition to collegiate athletes.
“I just want to help (younger players) with understanding different techniques that they don’t know now in high school," he said. "I wish that there were some techniques that I was taught in high school that I learned in college so I could have been ahead of everybody else."
"I could have played better, had better leverage on certain routes and on certain coverages where I needed to be aligned (differently). It helps you play faster. I want to help (players) understand that quickly before they get to (college).”
Worthington did share some good news in that he is on the verge of signing a futures contract to play for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. For reference, the CFL season is 21 weeks long, with teams playing 18 regular season with three bye weeks mixed in and games beginning in mid-June.
When the regular season ends in early November, six of the league's nine teams advance to a three-week playoffs culminating in the Grey Cup championship game.
Worthington will join the Stampeders, who won the Grey Cup in 2018, in April where he'll play one season before NFL teams will have the option to pick him up in December of 2020 and January of 2021. If no such team does, he will be on contract with Calgary for the 2021 season.
"Once I found out I was not getting interest from any NFL teams and wasn’t going to get picked up in the XFL Draft, I knew I should start doing something, so I just went to Matt and started that up," Worthington said. "I’m about to sign a CFL contract for next year and I’ll be working with Matt until I go out there in April.”
Worthington was on hand in Boulder for the Arizona and USC games and maintains good contact with former teammates Rick Gamboa, Donovan Lee, Devin Ross and others.
For Worthington, coaching local talent with McChesney allows him to fulfill a career aspiration and keep him close to the game while he continues to chase his ultimate goal: playing in the NFL.
"It’s about never giving up," Worthington said. "After the CFL, I could still possibly have a shot at the NFL so I’ve got to keep going."