One day, you’re a college wide receiver, hoping for a chance to play for a good NFL team. The next, you’re a potential No. 1 wide receiver for the league’s back-to-back champions: the Kansas City Chiefs.
After being selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft last weekend, former Texas wideout Xavier Worthy is adjusting to the new reality of his life.
“It’s been fun,” he told reporters on Saturday, looking back at his first week as a member of the Chiefs. “[I’ve been] learning the new offense and seeing how they run stuff — and just getting the flow of things.”
One thing is the same: in Kansas City, he’ll continue to wear the number he sported during three years with the Longhorns.
“In high school, I wore No. 1 my junior year,” explained Worthy. “[That] was kind of like when I started popping out onto the scene. So No. 1 has kind of just been my number after that; I just wanted to take it with me everywhere I went.”
While Worthy expressed plenty of confidence in his ability to be a top performer at the next level of his sport, he also recognizes that he’s still just a rookie with dues to pay. The coaching staff made that clear to him
“Their expectations of me were to come in willing to work,” he revealed. ”I feel like whatever they need me to do — whatever I have to do — I’m going to do it, just to get on the field.”
That starts with getting to know his new teammates — including quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I talked to him — connected with him a little bit,” said Worthy. “He was excited about me coming into the camp.”
Worthy already feels like Mahomes is very happy to have him among his teammates.
“It’s amazing just to be able to have that quarterback that wants you,” he observed. “That means they’re obviously going to try to find a way to get you the ball and make you a part of the offense.”
And make no mistake: Worthy is pleased about where he ended up.
“I feel like everybody would want to play for Pat,” he declared, “just how amazing a quarterback he is and how personal he is.”
In the meantime, there are still plenty of things to do to become fully acclimated into Chiefs Kingdom. Worthy has already started one of them: having some Kansas City barbecue.
“I tried Q39,” he said with a smile. “It was fire!”