Rams unveil the Davante Adams era

Woodland Hills, Calif. (News4usOnline) – Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams made his way to the practice facility of the Los Angeles Rams for his introduction to the local media. 

Adams himself was pretty chill. Wearing a blue LA Dodgers hat and armed with a megawatt smile, Adams shared his thoughts on why he made the decision to play for the Rams after going through the free agency process for the first time in his career. 

“It’s been different for sure,” Adams said.“It’s my first time going on 12 years of being able to have this opportunity to essentially pick where I go. It’s definitely a different opportunity but it’s been fun. Honestly, the period hasn’t been too long since I’ve been a ‘free man’ and [Head Coach] Sean [McVay] wanted to make sure he kept it that way, that’s for sure.”

“I was actually just in Japan on a trip with some of my friends out there and I thought he was out there too just based on… I was talking to him more than I was talking to my wife,” Adams continued. “He definitely showed a lot of interest. There were a lot of teams that reached out. You never know how that process is going to go when you haven’t gone through it.” 

With the team moving on from Cooper Kupp, the Rams went out and grabbed Adams because they needed to add a big-time playmaker to their offense. Thanks to the recruiting efforts of McVay, the Rams got what they wanted in Adams. 

The former Green Bay Packers and Las Vegas Raiders star is a walking highlight film who has the ability to take over games and dominate defenses. It may take him a while to get in sync with the team’s offensive scheme, but Adams is already feeling at home. 

He said he got the pull to play for the Rams after McVay and several players reached out to him.

“After speaking with a couple of players, Sean, and a couple of the other personnel, it was clear that this was where I needed to be,” Adams said. “[The Rams were] definitely the most eager organization to reach out, whether it was the understanding of contracts or understanding of where I am in my game. Obviously having an opportunity to play with [QB] Matthew [Stafford] is a heck of an opportunity.” 

If there has been one consistent force at the wide receiver position for the past decade, Adams has been that player. He is zeroing on 1,000 receptions (957), has already amassed 11,844 yards receiving, and has caught 103 touchdowns. 

Adams’ statistical numbers verifies his dominance as the Alpha wide receiver. Now he’ll be paired opposite Puka Nacua as LA’s starting wideouts. 

“[It’s a] great opportunity. He’s somebody that I was a big fan of when he first got in the league,” Adams remarked. “I didn’t know much of him because I don’t really watch too much college football. Seeing what he did that first half of the season, I’m like, ‘Okay, this guy has what it takes. That’s for sure.’ As I continued to watch and see how he finished the year, stuff like that doesn’t happen by accident. He has the God given [talent]. He has an amazing, electric personality.”

In an indirect way, the mutual respect between Adams and Nacua appears to have bore fruit before they became new teammates. Nacua, who wore No. 17 in his first two seasons with the Rams, has switched to wearing No. 12. Adams will keep his customary No. 17 without even trying.  

“I didn’t even talk to him about it,” Adams said. “I think it was his plan to change to 12. I don’t know when, but I know that before I even knew for sure if I was headed to LA, he was already talking about wearing 12.” 

“For everybody out there that wants to hate me for making them buy new jerseys, I did not tell him. I didn’t pay him. I didn’t do anything. That was out of the kindness of his heart and he wore it in college so I guess it made sense,” Adams went on to say. 

Adams gives the Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford a big, explosive pass-catcher. The key for this relationship to flourish is through open lines of dialogue, Adams said

“Just through communication,” Adams said.”That’s the biggest way. That’s the way I learned.”

Adams learned another lesson during his abbreviated free agency flirtation. What McVay wants the two-time Super Bowl head coach usually gets. McVay wanted Adams, the top wide receiver on the free agency market and he showed him as much with a relentless recruiting courtship of the three-time All-Pro. 

Adams called McVay’s recruitment “aggressive.” 

“I’ll say aggressive, but in all the right ways though,” said Adams. “He sent me a couple highlight tapes of myself narrating. It was kind of [Former Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach] John Gruden-esque a little bit. You know how he is with ball so he’s breaking down every single clip.”