All I got is: he decided he cared more about vlogging/acting than he did about football. He looked decent, and probably had some sort of role in an offense if he kept at it (PS on the Vikes, and then he went to the Colts), but he decided to give that up for something he was more passionate about. Then, after a while, he missed football and wanted to make a comeback. Looks like he's well on his way!
After finishing 2017 on the Vikings’ practice squad and joining the Colts in January 2018, Adams informed Indianapolis three months later of his intent to retire from the NFL. His reason was simple: He was willing to put one dream on hold to pursue another.
And, with that, an acting career was born.
“It’s everyone’s dream to make it to the NFL,” Adams said. “You’ve been preparing for it all your life and then you hear your name called on TV. It was a huge dream of mine. And then I get there and I’m playing with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs. I was living the life.
“But I’m more than football.”
As a small child, Adams would parade around the living room entertaining family members with his dance routines, mimicking characters from his favorite television shows. He’d watch Nickelodeon in awe of the child actors playing various roles, wondering why he couldn’t do the same.
He’d flirted with the notion of pursuing an entertainment career while in college. Then, his position coach found out.
“I dabbled in modeling and acting,” Adams said. “But my receivers coach found out about it and told me to cut it out. They wanted me to be all football.”
That’s a lot to ask of a guy who, as he said, is “more than football.” Maybe that’s why Adams roamed the Vikings locker room and everywhere he went with a video camera in hand, collecting content for his video blog. Even a cursory look at some of his YouTube content – from the video of him and Diggs in an SUV riding alongside a wasp to the one on eating spicy peanuts – is enough to conclude that Adams possesses a flair for the dramatic.
After one season in the NFL, the urge remained. The time had come, Adams decided, to act on it.
...
Throughout the two years he was away from football, Adams never completely moved on. He stayed current with workouts, maintaining a football-specific routine that would keep him prepared if he ever decided to return to the sport. Adams knew his love of football had not waned because of the emotions the game produced within him.
“I hated turning on the TV and watching football,” he said. “Just knowing that I wasn’t out there with my brothers on the field, it killed me. In the beginning, I didn’t watch football at all. For almost a year, I didn’t watch a lick of football. I couldn’t do it.”
Adams missed the game. But he also was enjoying the life he’d created in Hollywood. He wrestled with those feelings until recent months. Adams awoke one morning and decided to act on those feelings. He called McGuire, just as he had in 2018, with a different kind of news.
He wanted back in.
You don’t walk away from the NFL without ever having established yourself and assume you’ll be welcomed back with open arms two years later. The NFL churns through players, knowing there will always be a long line of candidates wanting a shot.
Adams, 25, had to brace himself for a lukewarm reception. Because he had signed a two-year contract with the Colts before retiring, Indianapolis owned his rights. If he sought reinstatement from the league, the Colts would either have to activate him or release him and permit him to sign elsewhere.
Not to worry. After putting him through a workout, the Colts happily welcomed him back.
To understand the intensity of Adams’ desire to initially pursue acting, you first must understand what he was walking away from. He made the Vikings’ final roster for the first month of the 2017 season before being waived to make room after veteran Michael Floyd returned from injury.
The instant Adams was demoted to the practice squad, teams came calling. Practice squad players are eligible to be signed to other teams’ active rosters, and there was no shortage of teams offering Adams that chance after his strong preseason.
“There were teams that made some very strong offers,” McGuire said. “There were teams telling us, ‘Hey, he will play for us this Sunday.’ ”
But the Vikings offered a sweetener, paying Adams a full active-roster salary to entice him to stay with the team that had drafted him and professed to have long-term plans for him.
After drafting Adams, Minnesota general manager Rick Spielman said, “You watch him on tape and he’s making big plays all the time.”
Adams decided to stay with Minnesota, but when the season ended with him still on the practice squad, he began considering his options. And those same teams were ready to engage him once more.
All of this is relevant now because it helps explain why the Colts were so willing to take Adams back. Just two years ago, he was in high demand, with roughly half the teams in the NFL interested in acquiring him after the 2017 season. The Colts, who were among the teams originally trying to sign Adams the previous fall, felt fortunate to land him.
Who knows if he’ll make their roster this season, but Colts fans should be on the lookout for Adams. He’s a speedster, clocked at 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dash during the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine, running it two months after badly spraining his ankle. Adams also is a threat on special teams, averaging 24.8 yards on kickoff returns in college.
Adams was drafted as a return-only WR which one scouting report noted that he had "bricks for hands". He was a dynamic athlete, but fumbled away 2 or 3 punts + kick returns in his first preseason, and was cut a few weeks into the year. He's not good and I can't imagine he'll be better if he retired/un-retired.
Nah, I'd rather Miller get all the run he can and Ridley and Mims keep making progress.
+1
Yeah, it sounds like Wims has improved. This will be his 3rd season and from what we've been reading he is really looking good. LOL, and also, when Belichick lets a guy go I always wonder "why" (which is crazy because some have gone on to play well afterwards). But still, ya wonder :-)
Nah, I'd rather Miller get all the run he can and Ridley and Mims keep making progress.
+1
Yeah, it sounds like Wims has improved. This will be his 3rd season and from what we've been reading he is really looking good. LOL, and also, when Belichick lets a guy go I always wonder "why" (which is crazy because some have gone on to play well afterwards). But still, ya wonder :-)
Add in the fact they're letting him go after giving up a second round pick to get him and he only played 7 games for them! Even the best make mistakes...some people around here need to keep that in mind when it comes to our own GM.