Wort spent his formative years in southern England, watching and playing football.
The other one.
"I played soccer when I was younger,” said Wort, a linebacker who became the Sooners' 10th commitment from the Class of 2009 on Wednesday morning. "We moved to Rhode Island from a town south of London when I was 13.”
This fall will be Wort's fourth season on an American football field.
At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, he hardly looks like a soccer player anymore.
Even the British accent is gone, except when he uses words like "lost” and "called.”
"We always invite him over for ‘tea and crumpets,'” said New Braunfels coach Chuck Craniford. "It's a joke. Those things sound weak and timid, but the truth is, nothing about Tom is timid.”
Wort picked Oklahoma after consecutive weekend visits to his top three college choices.
Three weeks ago, he was in Baton Rouge, La., visiting Les Miles and LSU. Two weeks ago, he popped in for the Sooners' second open scrimmage in Norman. And this past weekend, he visited Texas A&M.
"I took the three visits with an open mind,” Wort said. "After that, I was going to decide whether I would take visits to the USCs and Floridas of the country.”
Apparently, three was enough.
Wort called OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables on Tuesday to tell him he was seriously thinking about committing to the Sooners. Venables told Wort it was the best decision he could make.
Wednesday morning, Wort called back and made it official.
"I decided that Oklahoma was the right school for me,” he said. "It was the right distance away. It was my style of play. There was nothing I could say wrong about it.”
According to his coach, Wort has timed 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash — a blistering mark for a linebacker. He earned Texas all-state honors in 2007 in a program that has produced 12-straight playoff teams.
"I guess playing soccer helped my foot speed,” Wort said. "I don't know it affected anything else.”
Despite offers from USC, Florida, Missouri and Nebraska, Wort says he's done taking visits and will "plan on being real committed to Oklahoma.”
He becomes the fourth linebacker to pick OU this recruiting season. Eight of the Sooners' 10 commits are defensive players.
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With a all-american type safety, and discipline on the defensive line, things could be shaping up to mirror the powerful defense of the 2000 championship team. We are going to score points, if we can get our "D" consistently strong I could see us winning 30 or 40 games in a row. We are going to be absolutely stacked up with talent.
Tom was definitely the strongest player on the team last year--a team that went 13-1 and only lost in the playoffs in triple-overtime. The youtube video will give you an idea of his speed, instinct, and aggressiveness. The best part is that I get to wear my OU hat to all the games next year.
with 9 commits in, we have 4 LB's, 2 DB's, 2 DE's, 1 WR, and 1 RB. Hopefully some OL and DT's are in line. Good job Stoops and staff. Other than Texas, compare our number of commits versus any other major school. We blow them away.
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