CU's Worthington Has Made Family Center Of His Return
September 21, 2017 | Football
BOULDER — Kannon Worthington doesn't sit still. Like most toddlers, the 1-year-old is full of endless energy that demands release.
But there is one place the youngest Worthington finds calm and focus: Folsom Field. Despite the fans and noise all around him, Kannon is zeroed in on the field, his eyes laser-focused on one person, father Evan Worthington.
At last weekend's Colorado-Northern Colorado game, Evan had even more sets of eyes watching his every move. For the first time in his football career, there were four more generations of Worthingtons watching from the stands together: great-grandfather Max Worthington, grandfather Pete Worthington, mother Cindy Worthington, and son Kannon and his mother, Aiden Dewett, were all present to watch Evan continue his return to football field.
The road to this point has not been an easy one. After being suspended from the Colorado football program in the spring of 2016 for violating team rules, Evan was forced to deal with the consequences of more than one of his choices.
Mere days after being notified of his year-long suspension, Evan's long-time girlfriend, Dewett, dropped an even bigger bombshell. In September, 20-year-old Evan would be a become a dad.
Faced with a situation that had the potential to break many others, Evan decided it was time to step up. Dewett said that from the moment Evan found out, "He was ready to make family his future."
Great-grandpa Max said his advice to Evan was to "do the best the he could." With with that advice in hand, Evan decided that wallowing in his troubles would achieve nothing. He decided to give everything he could to reinventing himself in preparation for fatherhood and for his return to the CU football program.
The first step in his reinvention was the changing of his last name. At birth, Evan was given his single mother Cindy's maiden name, Worthington. In his teens, Evan had his last name changed to White, that of his stepfather's. But the relationship between Cindy and Evan's stepfather ended and Evan, faced with the chance to change the direction of his life, decided he would take back his mother's name.
Equipped with his new name, Worthington moved away from Boulder and began a job as a security guard. He said the change was a "major adjustment" after playing football all of his life but one that was necessary and one that has better equipped him for life after football.
Cindy said that it "humbling" for her son to watch his teammates play last season, but an experience that helped him mature.
"He was going to do whatever he had to to get back on that field," she said.
Dewett agrees.
"He's this new person," she said. "He's a dad now. He's so much more ready to do great thing for not only himself, but for his family."
On Sept. 24, 2016, the Buffaloes beat Oregon in Eugene, 41-38. Ahkello Witherspoon's interception in the fourth quarter is a moment has been marked as the moment that truly gave birth to "The Rise."
Although it was difficult for Worthington to see his teammates experiencing such success and not be part of it, on that day he sat in a hospital 1,200 miles away witnessing his own life-changing moment — the birth of his son.
Cindy describes Kannon as "a miracle baby." Evan said Kannon's birth is by far "the best day of my life." He might not have been with his team celebrating their seminal win against Oregon that Saturday but Evan had something better.
He was finally holding his own child who, although not necessarily expected, gave him a new purpose in life, a purpose that is even bigger than football.
Evan continued to work as a security guard until he was reinstated to the team in time for the spring 2017 semester. He and Dewett and their son moved back to Boulder, equipped with the lessons and experiences that can only come with being first-time parents.
Although at the time, as he says, it "felt like the world was crumbling down," Worthington made changes in his life and built himself back up. He never gave himself any option other than getting back on the football field, not only for himself but as an example to his son.
Worthington's return to the team has been critical. The Buffs' defense lost eight starters, including four who were selected in the NFL Draft. Those departures have allowed Worthington to make an immediate impact as a defensive back. In the first three games of the season, Worthington has tallied 20 tackles (17 solo), one interception and a pair of pass breakups.
As five generations of Worthingtons sat in Folsom Field last weekend, Cindy said she could always see this moment in her mind — but thinking about it would have made her cry "because it required so much faith and hope."
"Evan took it all, everything we were going through, and made it into something so beautiful and genuine," Dewett said, "If it wasn't for his strength and getting us through everything, I don't know where our family would be right now."
Evan said having his family in the stands watching him play the game he loves "means everything."
But when he looks up into the pack of Worthingtons in the stands, there is one set of eyes in particular that Evan is looking for. He is looking for Kannon, the son who gave him the extra faith and hope during one of the darkest periods of his life — and Evan wants to make sure Kannon is always looking right back at him.
