Xavier Worthy has begun life in the NFL. On Saturday, the record-breaking first-round wideout made his debut as a Kansas City Chief, playing only five offensive snaps.
He mostly watched from the sidelines as his new team lost 26-13 at the Jacksonville Jaguars. The day before, his mother Nicky Jones had released a video montage from his high school and college days:
Her message to Xavier Worthy reads as follows:
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"You do everything fast, ‘Mr. 4.21’. But that doesn’t mean all this happened overnight. As your Mom, I’ve watched you put in years of sacrifice and lots and lots of hard work and dedication to get where you are today, and you deserve every single blessing coming your way.
“I want you to remember you set your own standard of excellence—no one else. Continue to set that bar high, and every day, strive to be the best version of yourself on and off the field. I am so proud of you and love you—Times Infinity. Go be great. Go be amazing. Go be legendary.”
Xavier Worthy wanted to be drafted by Chiefs against his mother's wishes
The Xavier Worthy era is here. He's projected to be one of the Chiefs' solutions to a positional corps that became notorious last season for dropping pass after pass. And if his mother Nicky Jones is to be believed, it's that he willed it right from the moment he ended his collegiate career - even if she did not want it.
She once told Fox Sports' Henry McKenna:
"He's like, ‘I'm going to the Chiefs. I'm going to the Chiefs. 'But I'm like, ‘Xay, you've got to open your mind here. You literally could really go anywhere.'"
But he never wavered in his goal, especially after he showed up at the Draft Combine and shocked scouts with a 4.21-second 40-yard dash, the fastest in the event's history. Eventually, she somewhat relented.
Come Day 1 of the Draft, the Buffalo Bills had the 28th overall pick. Jones was ready to see her son land in Orchard Park when the phone rang, but it was not Brandon Beane on the other side of the line, but rather Brett Veach, who had traded up from 32nd:
"That was another feeling of just — wow. If you knew us, if you were around us, we knew that's where he fit. That's where he was going. And for it to actually happen, he's exactly where he's meant to be."
Just over a month later, in the beginning of June, Xavier Worthy signed his rookie contract: four years (plus a fifth-year option) for $13.79 million, all guaranteed.
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