Cam Akers would be “ultimate competitor” in Atlanta’s backfield

Too small, too slow, played on a bad football team — Cam Akers has received a lot of criticism. He's fought through all that and more, trying to prove himself and his love of football.

Cam Akers vomited, as he ran down the field.

Two plays later, he scored an 80-yard touchdown, out-hustling everyone to the end zone.

The former Florida State running back was in eight grade and had grown dehydrated while playing Pee Wee football. His mother pressured him to leave the game and go to the hospital.

Akers refused, although he said he didn’t disobey his mom — he simply “disagreed” with her. He already possessed NFL-caliber drive and a ferocious love for football.

“It’s not life or death, but you’ve got to look at it that way,” Akers said Feb. 26 at the NFL Combine. “You never know when it’s going to be your last (game), so you have to take advantage of every moment you have. I’m a competitor, an ultimate competitor.”

Over the last three seasons, Akers played on the least-successful Seminole team since the 1970s. Yet, despite the poor records, he never quit.

He burst into college during his freshman year in 2017, posting 1,025 rush yards and eight scores. After a 700-yard sophomore campaign, he rebounded last season, capping his college career with 1,144 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

“I say it’s all God’s plan,” Akers said. “You can’t question it. You play the cards you’re dealt. When you start to question God, that’s when the situation you’re in becomes a reality. I never question God. I always stay true to my faith. I keep working.”

He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds at the combine — where he had a formal meeting with the Falcons — and firmly entrenched himself as a Day Two draft selection. He said he would like to take after two of the biggest stars in the NFL at his position.

“I definitely watch [Ezekiel Elliott] as far as an all-around back, being able to catch, run and block,” Akers said. “And Alvin Kamara, definitely, in the passing game, the way he’s elusive when he gets the ball in his hands.”

The only knocks on Akers: his speed, which he assuage doubts about in Indianapolis, and his size.

He is five foot 10 and weighs 217 pounds. He has a way to combat that, though.

“You’ve got to want to be the aggressor,” Akers said. “You’ve gotta want to be a dog. And at that position, you’ve got to be a dog no matter what you’re doing.

Even as an eighth grader, Akers was a dog.

After scoring the 80-yard post-vomit touchdown, he didn’t wait long to repeat.

“Having God on my side and the work ethic and the will to win, I just kept going,” Akers said.

“I came out, took some Powerade, water, had some mustard, and I went back in three plays later and ran for a touchdown again.”