AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns wide receiver Xavier Worthy was one of the most electrifying pass catchers in the country in his freshman year, but how well can he drive a go-kart?
Worthy was the subject in the latest installment of “Days Off,” a video series by sports media company Whistle. Along with teammates and roommates Quinn Ewers and Jahdae Barron, the trio skidded around corners and bumped into each other around the K1 Speed go-kart track.
The idea of the series, Whistle said, is to show what athletes do on their coveted days off. It was spun off the Whistle’s previous series, “No Days Off,” a franchise that racked up 3 million views profiling teen athletes “whose drive and motivation have allowed them to overcome barriers to get to where they are today, alongside their respective support systems,” the company said.
In the interview portion of the piece, Worthy said he had a hand in recruiting Ewers after he entered the NCAA transfer portal from Ohio State. Ewers was originally a Texas recruit while Tom Herman was the head coach, but then made a surprise flip and enrolled early at Ohio State after reclassifying and skipping what would have been his senior year at Southlake Carroll High School.
“Our relationship is pretty strong,” Worthy said regarding Ewers. “I basically recruited him over when he was in the portal.”
Worthy talked about his high school days in Fresno, California at Central East High School, and he said the football scenes in both California and Texas are different because kids just start playing at a younger age.
“They’re more serious about it at a younger age,” he said. “When you come out of Fresno, you have the whole city behind your back, so you just want to carry that over to wherever you go.”
The speedster who racked up 981 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns as a freshman explained how he became “The Real Flash” when he was younger — named of course after the superhero.
“I had Flash gloves, cleats, glove, armbands … I had everything, so everyone called me that,” he said. “I was the fastest guy on the field all the time, so that’s why everyone called me that.”
As for the go-kart race, the other part of the feature, the three had a bet that the loser would do 20 pushups. Barron thought he won, but apparently, the race standings said otherwise. Worthy delivered a line that would undoubtedly cut deep to Alabama fans, the same ones that are going to show up September 10 in Austin.
“You know how ‘Bama beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, but then lost in the Natty?” Worthy joked with Barron. “That’s what you did.”
They came to an agreement that they all lost, somehow, and ended up doing 20 pushups as a team.