Card Back Questions: Tim Worley Talks Standout Rookie Year, Hitting the Weights, Track and Field Championships
In a new series called Card Back Questions, Tony flips over old trading cards and speaks with a wide range of professional athletes about the fun facts found on the backs of their old cards.
First up is former University of Georgia star and five-year NFL veteran running back Tim Worley.
Tony Reid-Your 1990 Fleer card mentioned your outstanding rookie season, leading the Steelers in rushing and finishing only behind Barry Sanders and Bobby Humphrey for rookie running backs in the league. How special was that rookie season for you to be able to come and make an impact like that with such a legendary organization?
Tim Worley-Well, it gave me confidence because as a rookie I had to prove myself. I don’t know if you remember this but my first two games as a rookie in Pittsburgh were a nightmare. We got beat 105-6 by the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. My very first game, I fumbled three times. I missed all of training camp. I was in camp for about four or five days. I was in shape but I wasn’t in game shape, with the timing and stuff. It means the world to me because we were able to turn things around after that second game and we went to the playoffs. I led the team in rushing and I was third among rookies. It really boosted my confidence to come into my second year.
TR-You were quoted on the back of your 1991 Pro Line card saying that you have already learned that you have to stick to the weights and that this (the NFL) is not a little boy's game. It's a big man's game. Was there a moment that that fact became clear to you?
TW-Well, ‘big man’ for me was more of a mental thing. In the movie Any Given Sunday the worst team in the NFL can kick the best team in the NFL’s butt if you are not prepared mentally. Physically, I didn’t worry about that because I always kept myself in excellent condition. I was in the weight room. I was very strong, I was a big 230 pound running back that ran a 4.38 40. It was more about the mental side of it and staying focused. It was about learning how to manage my time away from the field when you are a single man with millions of dollars in the bank, you know what I mean? That was the most important thing.
TR-I don’t know what you mean but I can imagine. Your 1991 Score Young Superstars card mentioned that you were a high school track and field sprint champion. Can you elaborate on your success in track-and-field?
TW-I played four sports and baseball was my favorite sport. I gave it up because track took over and it was right around the same season. I just wanted to focus totally on track. One of my baseball coaches. To this day, is upset that I gave up baseball. I think I was a better baseball player than a football player. I was always a fast guy. I was the 100 meter and 200 meter state champion in North Carolina in 1985. My best time in the 100 meters was 10.32. My best time in the 200 was 20.8. I was a consistent 21 flat in the 200 meters. I was six two and three quarters, I weighed 215 pounds my senior year and I ran a 4.22 in the 40 yard dash. I won the Junior Olympics in 1984 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a 10.4 100 meters. Me and four of my Junior Olympic teammates were the first high school track athletes to break 40 seconds in the 4x100. We ran a 39.6. I was an anchor and they clocked my split at a 9.98…in high school. Here is the crazy thing. I had a scholarship at Georgia to play football and run track. I let Coach Dooley talk me out of running track to concentrate on playing football. I regret doing that that because I always wanted to be an Olympic sprinter in the 100 and 200 meters.
Tony Reid spent more than a decade covering combat sports at the highest level. He has written hundreds of articles and conducted hundreds of interviews about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett, Sports Collectors Digest, and Sports Collectors Daily. Reid worked full time at a sports card shop in Central Pennsylvania for a number of years. A lifelong collector, Tony treasures his rookie card collection of star players in baseball, basketball, and football. If you want to discuss the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr., you can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms