Oakland’s Darrell Adams Junior’s path leads him to the doorstep of the NFL

Adams’ durability and raw athleticism has caused many NFL scouts to take notice leading up to the 2020 Draft (Photo by Section925)

By Connor Buestad | Connor@Section925.com 

The last time Darrell Adams Jr. cried on a football field was not for the reasons you might envision. It wasn’t after receiving a bone-rattling hit in Pop Warner as a pre-teen, indoctrinating him into the tough culture of Oakland football. It wasn’t after falling short in an unexpected playoff run for Stellar Prep High School in Hayward. And it wasn’t after saying goodbye to his four year football family at Azusa Pacific University outside of Los Angeles. The last time Adams broke down emotionally on a football field was when he simply wasn’t allowed to play.

At age 16, Adams was in his first few weeks at Stellar Prep, having just transferred over from Foothill High in Pleasanton to play his junior year for a new coach; a new opportunity. From the stands there would have been no way to tell that Adams was suffering to the point of tears. Built like a Greek god even before he received his driver’s license, Adams roamed the sideline on this particular Friday night with his usual stout and intimidating stature, wide and chiseled shoulders supporting a proud lion-like face, chin up and assured, watching his new teammates enjoy another night of high school football without him. 

Maybe the only person to witness Adams shed a tear that night was his head coach Desmond Gumbs. Everyone else was either too afraid to admit what they saw, or too surprised to believe it. Certainly nobody on the sideline was going to address it. Even at that age Adams carried himself like a football warrior, and if he needed to shed a tear on the gridiron, it said nothing about his level of toughness, which was too obvious to debate. 

“I looked down the sideline and was shocked to see him crying,” explains Coach Gumbs. “He had his head in the game, he had his uniform on, and he was fully supporting his teammates. But still, he couldn’t play. I know that was excruciating for me to see him go through that. It must have been even tougher for someone that young to deal with it, but he did it. His head up the whole time, focused on the game in front of him. I knew he was special for having that attitude so young.” 

--- 

Adams chose APU over ASU and Utah out of Stellar Prep HS in Hayward (Photo courtesy of Azusa Pacific University)

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Darrell Adams Jr. was born to play football. His dad Darrell Senior starred at Oakland Tech as a running back, paving the way for the likes of Marshawn Lynch behind him. His mom carried more than her fair share of the athletic gene herself. The result was a kid with a football body you could only conjure up in a lab. “I have two sisters and they pursued careers outside of sports, so yeah, I guess you could say I’m the athlete of the family,” explains a smiling Adams at a recent pre-draft workout. 

Inquire about Adams’ athletic abilities with his college coaches and you get a direct response every time. 

“If you’re asking me why he’s a draft prospect, one reason is that he’s an athletic specimen, why don’t we just start there?” Azusa Pacific head coach Rudy Carlton tells me sternly. “The first time I saw him I thought he was an outside linebacker, then he lines up and runs a 4.5 in the 40 and catches the ball all over the field. Those numbers speak for themselves.” 

Despite the blessings of a body built for the rigors of NFL Sundays, Adams’ childhood was often consumed with change and challenging circumstances that drew him far from a football field, tasked with more important family business to tend to. The only constant in his middle school years was change, constantly moving to different neighborhoods in Oakland and the greater East Bay as his family searched for a consistent home. The rent in the notoriously expensive Bay Area was never easy to come by and a home invasion only added to the adversity. But the biggest challenge above all for Adams was helping his mother Latasha beat her daily battle with lung disease. 

“For as long as I can remember, I have been taking care of my mom. Her and I are incredibly close and she is really a big inspiration for my football career in general. When I was younger, I might have lost some time playing football to care for her, but in the end it was obviously worth it. She’s a huge part of my life,” says Adams. 

Adams’ high school career started at Foothill High in Pleasanton where his mother was living at the time and by his sophomore year he was already starting on varsity at wideout. Surrounded by a supporting cast who had Division I aspirations themselves, Adams began to prove himself as a college prospect, earning invites to offseason camps across the state. Camps that ultimately shape his future in the football world. 

Following Adams’ sophomore season at Foothill, he and his mom packed up their car with her oxygen tank that supported her lungs along with Darrell’s cleats and drove to any high school football showcase camps they could find. The Elite 11 Camp where Josh Rosen was throwing? Pack up the car and let’s go. Rivals Camp down south featuring the likes of Najee Harris? Sign me up. If there was a big-time camp in the state of California, Darrell and his mom were going to be there, looking to get his name on the map. Hungry to play as much as possible. 

It was on this camp circuit that Adams was introduced to Stellar Prep-Hayward head coach Desmond Gumbs. Although Adams was there to be seen by college coaches he also had plans of moving back to Alameda County for family reasons, and Gumbs was all ears. 

Adams didn’t ultimately make the decision to transfer from Foothill to Stellar Prep until the middle of August at the start of his junior year, a week after he had played in a seemingly harmless scrimmage. Little did he know his participation in that one scrimmage would disqualify him from playing at a new school for the rest of the year. 

“At first I thought the league was going to let me play after five games. That was initially the deal. But eventually they said I was done for the whole season. I missed my whole junior year, which was devastating,” says Adams. 

The evangelical Christian Azusa Pacific University was a perfect fit for Adams’ devout principles. (Photo courtesy of APU)

So there he was, a rising senior with big dreams of playing major college football, but there was just one problem: He had zero game tape from his junior year. 

Adams spent little time wallowing in sorrow and instead devised a plan to hit the football camp circuit yet again, determined to be seen by someone out there who could give him a chance beyond high school. The athleticism was obvious but his exposure remained minimal. 

Back out on the road they went, him and his mom, running down a dream, literally. Once even driving to San Diego for a one day camp and then turning around and driving back, right after its conclusion. Wherever there was a chance to be seen, Adams was going to find a way there. And eventually, it worked. 

Coming off a year standing on the sidelines of a small private school in Hayward, Adams now had offers from Arizona State and Utah. Both of which came after seeing Darrell play for less than one full day. 

“Let me be clear, this does not happen!” explains coach Gumbs. “Power 5 programs don’t just show up and give out scholarship offers on the first day they see a kid play. But when they saw Darrell do his thing, they went for it and I don’t blame them.” 

Yet as much as the bright lights and PAC-12 TV cameras called Darrell’s name, his desire to stick to playing wide receiver and becoming a featured playmaker was ultimately what he wanted most. Enter Azusa Pacific and Coach Victor Santa Cruz. The head coach at the time, Santa Cruz won over Adams with a home visit for the ages. Pulling into the Adams residence driving a sleek “APU SUV,” Santa Cruz made sure the drive up from LA was worth it, ultimately convincing Adams that his talents would be best utilized in his up and coming D-II program. Darrell couldn’t say no to the opportunity to play. At small Stellar Prep High he played every down, even Special Teams. At APU, Adams would get similar star treatment. 

In his first year playing for Azusa, he helped take the team to their first NCAA playoff trip in program history and in his four year career he solidified himself as a go-to reciever at the college level. By the time his college career was complete, he had compiled a career of consistency and durability that no one can argue with. A résumé that now has NFL scouts tracking down his cell phone number expressing interest in drafting him this weekend, albeit over a Zoom call. 

Now that Adams is knocking on the door of an NFL dream, it is easy to forget how recently he was just a high school kid with no game tape, a few dreams and loads of athleticism. Fast forward to today and you see a man with a newly minted degree in Criminal Justice to go along with a 40 time that even Nick Saban or Bill Belichick would gawk at. 

Roger Goodell won’t be calling Darrell Adams Junior’s name on ESPN tonight on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, but this is of no concern to Adams himself. All he’s ever bargained for is a chance to get out on the field and prove he can compete with the big boys and he has complete faith an NFL team will put that opportunity in front of him sooner than later. Don’t be surprised if he snatches it out of thin air. It’s rare that he sees an opportunity he hasn’t been able to run down.