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Mother's motivation pushing Adams toward NFL dream
By BRIAN LINDER, T&D Sports Desk Thursday, April 08, 2010
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Doctors say Phyllis Paden Adams will never walk again.
Ask Phillip Adams what he believes, and the answer is much different.
“She will walk one day,” he said. “That’s what we believe. You know, there is always hope.”
Hope. Adams has clung to that since the call came. It was the week of the Hampton game, last season, when South Carolina State linebacker David Erby roused his roommate to the terrible news.
“David Erby called me, and said my dad was trying to call me, that he couldn’t get in contact with me,” Adams said. “He told me my mom had been in an accident.”
Adams went to the hospital to find his mother in good spirits.
“God didn’t mess with her mental state,” he said Thursday. “It was just her body. We prayed, and the next day, she told me she wanted me to go play.”
Adams pulled it together, made it back to Orangeburg, and made the trip with his team to Hampton Oct. 24, where he started and had three tackles and a pass breakup.
“It was a tough situation,” South Carolina State head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough said. “But, if anybody could fight through it ... it was him.”
Adams played out his senior season, finishing with 48 tackles, three interceptions and 14 pass breakups, without his mother in the stands. Along the way, he caught the eyes of NFL Scouts and only strengthened the idea that he could play at the next level with a strong Pro Day at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium March 31. Fifteen scouts were on hand, most to see Adams, as the 5-10, 192-pound cornerback posted 4.53 and 4.52 in the 40-yard-dash, and showed off a 34.5-inch vertical leap. The workout was mentioned by Gil Brant on NFL.com.
“They’ve been talking fifth-to-seventh round,” Adams said. “It’s so unpredictable. My job is to just play football. The talk, I don’t know much about. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. If I’m drafted low, I expect that will be a blessing too.”
During the 2009 season, Adams kept his mother’s accident to himself. His coaches knew. His teammates knew. His family knew. That was it. But, Adams watched as his mother did her best in rehab to work her way from a bed to an motorized wheelchair and along the way he decided the story needed to be told. And, when it comes to Adams’ and his draft stock -- he has two workouts with undisclosed NFL teams next week -- the motivation to continue to work hard comes from her.
“(My mother) is my motivation,” he said. “We can look through life, and you go through adversity. This is one of the biggest things I have had to deal with. Right in the middle of football season. God was basically like, ‘Are you going to fall or get back up and keep pushing?’ I think I got back up, and my momma stays on me and is a big inspiration.
“We have to motivate each other,” he added. “I motivate her. She motivates me. Come on, let’s go. She’s a trooper. A real trooper. I have no doubt that she is going to build her strength back up.
This just makes you appreciate the people in your life. It makes you ... not worry about material things. It brings you closer to God. That is what it did for me. It helped me out in that aspect. It made me work harder. It can either change you for the worst or the best. Because of my family and the strength that I have, it changed me for the best.”
With all the NFL attention, one of Adams’ proudest moments came last week at York Row Elementary where his mother was a teacher.
“She got inducted last week into her school’s Hall of Fame,” he said. “I was there ... and, it was a very proud moment for me.”
He hopes he can repay the moment with one of his own in just over two weeks. That’s when he will settle down at home in Rock Hill, turn on the NFL Draft and hope that his name will appear, at some time, and bring a proud smile to Phyllis’ face.
“I think about it,” he said. “I think about just being the best, getting there and her coming to see me play. She didn’t see the last couple of games of my college career. It motivates me to get her to some of my games, which she will be. She will be there to see me play football.
“(If I get picked) it’s going to be real emotional. I will tell you that. It’s going to be a real emotional time for me and my family.”
By BRIAN LINDER, T&D Sports Desk Thursday, April 08, 2010
Leave a Comment | Default | Large
Doctors say Phyllis Paden Adams will never walk again.
Ask Phillip Adams what he believes, and the answer is much different.
“She will walk one day,” he said. “That’s what we believe. You know, there is always hope.”
Hope. Adams has clung to that since the call came. It was the week of the Hampton game, last season, when South Carolina State linebacker David Erby roused his roommate to the terrible news.
“David Erby called me, and said my dad was trying to call me, that he couldn’t get in contact with me,” Adams said. “He told me my mom had been in an accident.”
Adams went to the hospital to find his mother in good spirits.
“God didn’t mess with her mental state,” he said Thursday. “It was just her body. We prayed, and the next day, she told me she wanted me to go play.”
Adams pulled it together, made it back to Orangeburg, and made the trip with his team to Hampton Oct. 24, where he started and had three tackles and a pass breakup.
“It was a tough situation,” South Carolina State head coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough said. “But, if anybody could fight through it ... it was him.”
Adams played out his senior season, finishing with 48 tackles, three interceptions and 14 pass breakups, without his mother in the stands. Along the way, he caught the eyes of NFL Scouts and only strengthened the idea that he could play at the next level with a strong Pro Day at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium March 31. Fifteen scouts were on hand, most to see Adams, as the 5-10, 192-pound cornerback posted 4.53 and 4.52 in the 40-yard-dash, and showed off a 34.5-inch vertical leap. The workout was mentioned by Gil Brant on NFL.com.
“They’ve been talking fifth-to-seventh round,” Adams said. “It’s so unpredictable. My job is to just play football. The talk, I don’t know much about. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. If I’m drafted low, I expect that will be a blessing too.”
During the 2009 season, Adams kept his mother’s accident to himself. His coaches knew. His teammates knew. His family knew. That was it. But, Adams watched as his mother did her best in rehab to work her way from a bed to an motorized wheelchair and along the way he decided the story needed to be told. And, when it comes to Adams’ and his draft stock -- he has two workouts with undisclosed NFL teams next week -- the motivation to continue to work hard comes from her.
“(My mother) is my motivation,” he said. “We can look through life, and you go through adversity. This is one of the biggest things I have had to deal with. Right in the middle of football season. God was basically like, ‘Are you going to fall or get back up and keep pushing?’ I think I got back up, and my momma stays on me and is a big inspiration.
“We have to motivate each other,” he added. “I motivate her. She motivates me. Come on, let’s go. She’s a trooper. A real trooper. I have no doubt that she is going to build her strength back up.
This just makes you appreciate the people in your life. It makes you ... not worry about material things. It brings you closer to God. That is what it did for me. It helped me out in that aspect. It made me work harder. It can either change you for the worst or the best. Because of my family and the strength that I have, it changed me for the best.”
With all the NFL attention, one of Adams’ proudest moments came last week at York Row Elementary where his mother was a teacher.
“She got inducted last week into her school’s Hall of Fame,” he said. “I was there ... and, it was a very proud moment for me.”
He hopes he can repay the moment with one of his own in just over two weeks. That’s when he will settle down at home in Rock Hill, turn on the NFL Draft and hope that his name will appear, at some time, and bring a proud smile to Phyllis’ face.
“I think about it,” he said. “I think about just being the best, getting there and her coming to see me play. She didn’t see the last couple of games of my college career. It motivates me to get her to some of my games, which she will be. She will be there to see me play football.
“(If I get picked) it’s going to be real emotional. I will tell you that. It’s going to be a real emotional time for me and my family.”
DAL @ GB
