The conversation that changed everything for Gators WR C.J. Worton
By Andrew Olson
Published:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With roughly 5:00 left in the SEC Championship Game, Treon Harris launched one deep toward the end zone. Harris was probably hoping to hit Antonio Callaway, Florida’s leading receiver and the quarterback’s favorite target.
When the camera cut to the ball, the pass looked destined to end up in the hands of one of the three Crimson Tide defensive backs in the end zone. Instead, C.J. Worton came away with a touchdown reception.
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Many Florida fans likely saw a white jersey with No. 18 and asked, “Who’s that?” It was only the sixth career catch for the sophomore.
Jim McElwain had a question of his own.
“Two or three days after the SEC Championship he sat me down and told me that catch was something he had been waiting for me to do all year,” Worton said. “He was like, ‘Where was that all season?’”
Part of the reason Worton had a quiet sophomore season was due to bad luck with the injury bug. He hurt his leg in fall camp last season and was sidelined for more than a week. He then tweaked his knee in the season opener.
McElwain told Worton that the coaches had not done their job to work him back into the receiver rotation after the knee injury. Worton’s attitude, however, didn’t help his situation. He felt that he deserved playing time whenever he was healthy based on talent alone.
“I’ve been here for two years now,” said Worton, a three-star recruit from South Florida. “It’s not how it is in high school when you’re making plays and everything is going your way and you don’t necessarily have to work as hard to do it because you can just get by on talent. It’s something that me and Coach Mac had a long talk about, that I had to start working hard.”
Coaches ask players to work hard all the time, but something about this time, in December of an overall disappointing second season in Gainesville, sunk in with Worton.
“I had to really dig deep and see how much I loved the game, how much I wanted to play. That’s what got the ball rolling,” Worton said. “Since then, I just ran with it.”
McElwain has noticed a different Worton this offseason.
“I’ll say one thing about C.J.: He is another guy that has come a long, long ways,” McElwain said. “He’s a guy that I think even when you see his body, you’ll see the importance of the nutrition piece, the importance of finishing everything you do and your attention to your daily detail.
“It will be interesting to see where it carries over. But he’s had an outstanding summer; a guy that has really been a go-to guy for (the quarterbacks).”
The coaches will be looking to see how Worton responds to competition. He’s working with the first-team offense in practice, but the 2016 recruiting class included a star-studded group of talented wide receivers who have already excited fans and players alike, as demonstrated by CB Quincy Wilson’s recent comments.
After two seasons of being a spectator, Worton is motivated to hold on to his starting spot.
“When you’re sitting on the sidelines watching all the other guys shine, you’re happy for them, but at the same time you’re like ‘Man, that could be me.’”
This year, it could be him.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
