The regular-season finale against Sallisaw last fall gave Jaylon Wortham a favorite Ada football memory. The comeback and atmosphere made the night stand out.

“Coming back against Sallisaw last season in the last game of the regular season,” Wortham said. “The environment was great.”

A senior at Ada High School, Wortham has learned that football asks players to keep giving when the work gets difficult. The sport has strengthened him while changing the way he treats people around him.

“Football has taught me how to be tough, and it has helped me to show up for others,” he said.

His brother and teammate, Carter Wortham, has influenced him most. Sharing the field lets the brothers challenge one another, and Jaylon knows he has someone nearby who wants to see him improve.

“My brother Carter Wortham has had the greatest impression on me by being someone that’s always there to push me, and we help each other get better every day,” Wortham said.

Their relationship is competitive in a productive way, with each brother helping the other keep working instead of settling.

Wortham has also benefited from people willing to help him in the classroom. He named Chad Robertson as his favorite teacher because Robertson helped him pass math during his junior year.

Ada itself holds meaning for Wortham. His connection to his hometown is not tied to one place; it comes from the experiences he has collected and the people who were part of them.

“My favorite thing about my hometown is the memories I have formed over the years,” he said.

Wortham tries to return some of that support by attending school events and encouraging his peers. Showing up for other students matches the lesson he has taken from football about being dependable.

His outlook is also guided by advice to release what he cannot change and put his energy toward what he can.

“To let things out of my control go and focus on what I can control,” Wortham said. “It has helped me to set obtainable goals that I have and will achieve.”

His parents have helped give him the resources to pursue those goals. Asked whom he would like to thank, Wortham chose “my mom and dad for giving me the tools I need to succeed in life and become the person I am today.”

With his senior year underway, Wortham is focused on the work and people directly in front of him. Carter will be there to push him, his family will remain behind him and Wortham will keep doing what football taught him—showing up.