Adams to the Raiders Still has the NFL Talking
HENDERSON, Nev.--Last May, we began to report about the possibility of the Green Bay Packers superstar Davante Adams coming to the Las Vegas Raiders.
After months of reporting about it being possible and Adams' desire, it finally did occur. So now, as the NFL's best wide receiver is wearing the Silver and Black, he couldn't be happier.
The NFL hasn't stopped talking about the bold move by the Raiders and Adams. It sent shock waves through the league and put them on notice.
Adams spoke about his move to the Las Vegas Raiders and plenty more. You can read the transcript below, or watch the video above to catch all of what he said.
Wide Receiver Davante Adams
Q: You and Derek Carr made it publicly clear that you wanted a reunion at some point, but when did this become more of a reality during the process?
Adams: “It started to become more of a reality I think after the season obviously. It was something that we didn't even entertain during the season because we both had to focus on trying to win a Super Bowl. Obviously, that was No. 1, but once we wrapped up the season, started communicating a little bit. Still didn't really fully dive into it because we kind of wanted to decompress from the season, allow each other to put our thinking caps on a little bit and see where we were, and then things progressed a little bit more. We communicate multiple times a week as it is, aside from even trying to team up. So, once we got to a point where it was it was something that could be realistic now, it's not just a thought, we started trying to put a little bit of plan together. Obviously, I was still going back with Green Bay at that point and still weighing my options, but I think we got to a point where I felt like it was a good move for us. Obviously, I was traded, so it wasn't just strictly on us. I grew up in East Palo Alto. I was a Raiders fan my whole life, so it is a dream to be a Raider, man. It’s a dream come true. In the third-grade yearbook, I said I wanted to be an NFL star or NBA star, and I was wearing a Charles Woodson jersey at the time. It's been documented forever, so I guess you could say it was meant to be.”
Q: When a little bit of a door opened where you could look beyond just Green Bay for your future, was it a thing where you wanted to seize the moment and make sure it did happen? Or did this just kind of happen as a pleasant surprise?
Adams: “Well, it was a pleasant surprise because I found out kind of the same way you did. I wish it would have been a little bit more of an official thing to where I could at least let my family know and stuff like that. But it is what it is, kind of went with the punches. But it was really an idea up until it was done because it's never easy to make that happen. You see it in the NBA all the time, guys make it happen and get where they want to be any type of way they got to do it. It's crazy for the fans for Fresno State, crazy for the Raider fans, all of California and obviously the people that support us individually, too. So, something that we were definitely looking forward to potentially doing down the road. But obviously me playing in Green Bay, a great situation, having the greatest quarterback to play the game. That’s a dream in itself. So, I would never take anything away from anything Green Bay gave me or Aaron [Rodgers] gave me. It was an amazing opportunity to work over there and do what I did for almost a decade. But things change sometimes. It's not the first time that an impactful player to organization had to leave and I feel like it worked out for both sides ultimately.”
Q: What was the turning point, if there was one, where you began to even consider playing somewhere else besides Green Bay?
Adams: “I mean the turning point was really when I had to sit down and figure out what was best for me and my family. It wasn’t really just the teaming up with Derek. Like I said, we didn't scheme this all off-season or whatever. We just kind of checked in on each other football wise. I mean we check in on each other all the time about family and the real stuff. But as far as football and getting together, you're not being a great teammate to your current organization if that's all you worried about. He had to worry about getting the ball to Hunter [Renfrow] and Darren [Waller] and those guys and being a great teammate over here. And I had to do what I could to try to get to a Super Bowl, and obviously that didn't have it for either of us, so once we got to the point where it was it was real, we started entertaining it. Ultimately it was just for my family situation. I got another baby on the way, so quality of life obviously is another piece of it that means a lot to me. And I have a lot of family in California that's never been to see me play before. Grandparents. My grandmother wasn't doing well, she was in the hospital recently. So, just kind of reflecting and thinking about life things and stuff that really matters in this world. That's stuff that matters to me. That’s stuff that's weighing on my mind when there's a decision to be made. Do I want to be able to go through my whole career without having either of my grandparents on either side see me play? And I didn't like that. So, obviously being in Vegas, it gives them a much better opportunity. My dad drives everywhere, so he'll be able to make that happen. It's a little harder to drive to Green Bay. So, yeah man, it's a dream come true to be able to do this thing and ultimately get it done.”
Q: When you walked in the Raiders locker room for the first time and saw your jersey and got to stand there with Derek, can you tell us what emotions you were feeling?
Adams: “Well, Derek wasn't there when I walked in the locker room, nor was my jersey. So, I didn't see either one. I saw my jersey today and I was happy to see that. But it was a lot of emotion. First of all, I walked in and when I first walked in, I had to run back out because I didn’t have my phone. You know, you've got to record everything now. So, I had to grab my phone and fake it and act like I was just walking up. My boy is recording me too. Another piece that was bad, I wish that my wife was able to be here and my daughter as well, but she's pregnant right now and can't move around as much as we would like. It was crazy, man. Everything around here is like the iPhone 15, it’s just futuristic. The facility looked like a spaceship. It's just crazy. So, seeing that and then I got the chance to see the Raiderettes locker room and seeing how that looked blew my mind too. So, everything is just top tier. It's a whole other level when you walk into this building. So blew my mind and I'm still kind of processing it now, but I'm starting to soak in a little bit more.”
Q: You and Edgar Bennett were together in Green Bay. What were you able to take from him back then and how excited are you to work with him again?
Adams: “Well, E.B. was one of the first people that I saw when I walked in here when I came to sign a few days ago, and first thing I let him know, I said, man, you got to ease up on the test. That's the first thing I said to him, and he started dying laughing. E.B. has a lot to do with who I am today, just from the mental aspect of approaching the game because, I mean, this man used to put together some of the most impossible wide receiver tests to pass ever. I mean it was it was almost like it was being set up. It wasn't fun. But when I look back on it now, the way I look at the game, the way I can dissect the game, knowing coverages and things like that, E.B. had a lot to do with that. So, it's a great feeling being able to get him back. He looks great, too. Lost a lot of weight. And so, I was happy for him. He's a is a big piece of who I am.”
Q: Coming from the NFC North, what's it like now to be a part of the AFC West now?
Adams: “Oh, yeah. This is the best division in football right now. And I mean, it'd be hard not to say that even if I was still in Green Bay right now. Honestly, it’s loaded. It's not going to be easy, but it's definitely something I'm looking forward to. I'm always looking for a challenge. The Chargers added a few more pieces. Obviously, we stacked over here, so it's exciting to see what's ahead, man. I'm looking forward to it.”
Q: Have you given yourself a little time to think about the talent you are going to be surrounded with and how far this team can go?
Adams: “Yeah, man, I'm looking forward to that. I just put it on my story last night. I was looking at some film and looking at some highlights and just seeing some of the guys that I'm going to be surrounded with now. Hunter [Renfrow], I mean, people are telling me how much I can teach him. I'm like, he might be able to teach me a few things, man. Dude, he's a young player, but he's definitely seasoned. And everything I've heard from all these guys around here has been amazing from Derek too. So, nothing but good things ahead.”
Q: I know you played in Las Vegas once in college, but it's really exploded as a sports city since then. What have been your impressions of Las Vegas? And second part, you're kind of immediately one of the faces of sports in Las Vegas. What does that mean to you?
Adams: “Well, I mean, I don't know exactly what it means to me, but it's an honor to be in a place like this where you're surrounded by a lot of great players just on this team. Let alone you got the Knights and a bunch of organizations out here now, so it's a lot a lot more crowded sports wise than what Green Bay was. I think we had just the Packers out there, but it's awesome and I'm looking forward to it. Just driving up and down, seeing just the difference in the city of Las Vegas versus Green Bay. It’s like going from East Palo Alto then going to Green Bay, switching it up in that right. So, a little bit of a culture shock in reverse, I guess. But looking forward to it. Endless opportunities out here and definitely looking forward to taking advantage of all of it.”
Q: From a football perspective, you and Darren Waller are two players that typically defenses try to double team. Do you think that can open up the game and make things easier for you?
Adams: “Oh yeah, I'm sure it will play both ways. It'll definitely help me. I mean, you can kind of pick your poison. I was just talking to Josh [McDaniels]. I said you kind of run into the situation that the Chiefs have now, it’s like who you're going to double? Are you going to double Tyreek [Hill]? Well, 200 (yards) going to [Travis] Kelce. You going to double Kelce? Then you already know how that's going to go on Tyreek’s end. So, pick your poison and it'll be anybody's day. I'm a secure wide receiver, so at the end of day, I know what I bring. I told Derek, don't feel any pressure to force me to ball or nothing. We don't have to try to please the media, please anybody. Let's just go out there and do this thing like how we did before. I mean, put together a pretty good resume in college together. This ain't college, but we still got that connection so looking forward to putting it on display.”
Q: How quickly do you think you and Derek will pick up where you left off?
Adams: “Well, the thing is we've been training together every off season up until you guys moved out here. So, it's been like two off-seasons that we haven't gotten to at least throw for three or four months. I don't want to make any promises, but I'm sure we'll pick up where we left off pretty quick. We've got two guys that work really hard; it makes it a lot easier.”
Q: Was there a Raider player in particular that you looked up to growing up as a fan?
Adams: “Well, yeah. Many. Obviously, there's a couple of guys that stopped through here later in their career, Randy [Moss] and Jerry [Rice], who they didn't necessarily establish themselves in league while being with the Raiders, but those are two guys who I obviously watched. I mean those are some of the founding fathers for me. It was more than just more than just receivers. It was obviously C-Wood [Charles Woodson]. Tim Brown was a was a big inspiration. My whole family was Raider fans, so I knew a lot about the history since I was young too. Just growing up, honestly, all Raiders, anything Raiders was what I was about. I had a Tim Brown jersey, C-Wood, those got worn until the numbers fell off. Rich Gannon, I mean everything. So, I'm just looking forward to coming in and trying to leave my footprints as well as I can.”
Q: Since the news broke on Thursday, besides Derek, have any of the guys reached out? And what has been the overall message, or has there been a conversation with one of the guys that maybe has stuck out to you?
Adams: “
Well, I got a couple of bodyguards now. I don't know if y'all know, Max [Crosby] and Chandler [Jones] said if I need a bodyguard, they got me on the way in. They sent (Director of Team Security) Bob [Stiriti] out for me, so I told them they can take the week off. But a couple of the guys reached out on social media. Hunter texted me as well. So, got some guys reaching out and I'm sure it'll continue to happen. They know. I mean, I got like 250 text messages I haven't responded to yet, or haven't seen yet, so I'm still kind of combing through that right now. But yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting all the guys.”
Q: In just a month the NFL Draft will be here in Las Vegas. Do you have a memory from your draft day in 2014? Anything that sticks out to you?
Adams: “I do. Yeah, we had a full camera crew at the house, and I remember having all my people there just kind of chilling waiting on the call on day one because we kind of expected that. I mean it was cocky a little bit, I guess you could say, but they wouldn't have just sent the cameras there if they didn't believe it too. But we were all kind of chilling at the house, and it was one of the weirdest/worst feelings I've had and most embarrassed feelings I've had, even though it was for the NFL draft. At the end of the day, it's a great thing to look forward to either way but didn't get picked, so everybody had to come back the next day. We all wore black. And that was the funeral for everybody that didn't pick me. I like to think I made a decent impact and made a couple of the teams pay that didn't pick me up. But that's the most vivid memory I have other than my girlfriend at the time, I guess she kissed me a little too long and my mom almost pulled her off of me. So, that's probably the other thing. But other than that, that's really what sat with me.”
Q: How much has the driven your career?
Adams: “I mean, it did for a while, but then you get to a point where you find much more meaningful motivation than stuff like that. At this point, my motivation is my kids, my family, my legacy, stuff like that. I want a uniform feeling that Davante Adams is ultimately wanting to be a legend, or going to be a legend, or when they look back on it, he was a legend. So that's what I'm looking about doing. And you got to win a lot to do that, and you got to go out there and stack a pretty decent resume. So, I'm still going.”
Q: What is it about Derek’s game that you enjoy playing with him?
Adams: “I think a lot of it is just us knowing, and it's been years obviously since we played, a lot of years. But dating back to when we played before, the mentality of him, just the trust level between he and I. And obviously Aaron [Rodgers], we had an amazing trust level as well. I'm not slighting Aaron trusting me at all there. But that's one of the things that I really loved about Derek is that he trusted me to throw the ball up. He trusts my football acumen, whatever it was, just trusting that I knew what I was doing and what I was talking about at all times. So, that helped a lot. Obviously, he’s an amazing arm talent. His confidence is through the roof. And I think a part of that that helped establish that was throwing to guys like myself, Josh Harper, Isaiah Burse, Marcel Jensen, all those guys. We were his go to guys at Fresno and we gave him a reason to trust us. So, that with the gunslinger mentality, that's what I'm all about because I'm a volume receiver. I want to see as many footballs as I can, and I don't think we’ll have a problem with that over here.”
Q: Tim Brown said right when the announcement came out, he got a text message from his buddy that said, ‘Say goodbye to all your Raiders records.’ When you hear something like that and looking up to him, No. 1, did he reach out to you? No. 2, that has got to make you feel good because he said if there's one person he doesn't mind losing the records to it’s you?
Adams: “That means a lot. No, I haven't had the chance to speak to him yet. Or Mr. Brown, I should say. But I would love to, so if at any point he wanted to, I don't know if he's going to see this, but I would love to talk to him at some point. I can't promise that I'm going to leave those records alone, because I'm definitely looking for that. But the thing that I attribute all my success to is just living in the moment and playing each game. It’s really corny and really basic. In college, I did well, I got to the league, but I didn't even think about the league. I just went and played, had fun, took every game one by one and just thought about stacking it up. It was a one game season every time. They talk about how long the season is, season ain’t that long. I don't believe that. I think the season is pretty short, honestly. 17 opportunities for all the work you've put in all year, it’s not that long of a season. So, for me, I attack it. I'm in the business of maximizing everything I do, so I'm definitely looking forward to, like I said, leaving my footprint, doing everything I can to hopefully allow this team to win a lot of games.”
Q: Can you talk about the impact Keith Williams had on developing your craft and perfecting it? Coming out of your second year, you had a lot of ups and downs. Talk about how that molded you into the receiver you are today?
Adams: “Yeah, well, those kind of go hand in hand, to keep it real to you. Keith, Coach Dub…I had two offers coming out, San Diego State and Fresno State. My grades weren't where they should have been when I was offered, and they really took a chance on me because I had to pick it up my last two years because I didn't play football until my junior year. So, my junior and senior year in high school I had to really dig deep, and I took like eight classes my last year while people were taking four and already knowing where they are going to the school. He was one of the ones that was there supporting my mom. She's crying like I just really want my son to make it. He didn't apply himself. He’s incredibly smart, but he was not applying himself his first two years in high school. I love telling his story because it's good for people to hear, for the young people to hear, to know that it's never too late, especially if you have a great support system like what I do. And having Keith they're in my corner and pushing me, making sure that I was maximizing everything that I could do, that's the only reason that I'm sitting in this chair right now, honestly. I don't know what would have happened if not. Got all of the talent and the smarts and all of that, but I think I met somebody who could really reach that and pull that out of me. And, like I said, I owe a lot to him, and he knows where we stand on that. In that second year, obviously it did a lot for me because I knew the type of player that I was, but I just had to prove it to myself by staying healthy. I dealt with a lot of injuries, and I couldn't really use it at the time because to you guys that's an excuse when you're in it. You can in hindsight talk about it and that's kind of where we are now. But I wouldn't change it for the world because I felt like it made me bulletproof at this point. Like there's nothing anybody can say, do, a rumor, whatever. Like the way I attack my life is almost different because of that. I'm callused at this point. I drop the ball on the field, it's about something that just happened. There’s not going to be any residual effect because of it. I'm not going to get down on myself because of it.
It’s just like if I was at a workout and I dropped the ball, you're just going to get back on the line and run it again. Not going to let it tear you up mentally and become something that's bigger than what it is. And that’s where I am now and that's why I'm able to have the success I can because my confidence level is really high. A really, really humble guy. But I know who I am as a player and what I've been through. It can't be worse than that. You know, as far as the social media and all of that, like I was scared to get on social media. I didn't know if I was going to be on the team the next year, all of that. So, to be able to come back after having one touchdown in the second half of the last game of the season to having 12 touchdowns the next year and then you know what happened after that. So yeah, like I said, I'm callused at this point. So, it kind of made me the man that I am.”
Q: In recent years, you said a few times that you deserve to be the highest paid receiver in the league. What does it mean for you to check that box, but also for your family?
Adams: “Yeah, man. It's a blessing. It's funny you say that because more of the stuff has been surrounding the fact that I'm on the Raiders now. You know, everybody's saying congrats on being on the Raiders. It hasn’t been, congrats on $140 million. It's been congrats, you get to play for a team you grew up loving, it’s a great situation for you, I'm glad that you're happy and all of that stuff. It’s like one the first times I'm actually getting that, and I mean it's a blessing. Obviously, I've already made a lot of money. But to have this type of security, get to a place that it's almost like leaving high school and going to college again. You’re a kid in a candy store and to be in a place where they're happy to have you and give you all that money. I mean, it's just a bonus. Money doesn't buy happiness, but it can buy you a nice house and stuff like that. So, it's pretty cool.”
Q: What is your message to Raider Nation?
Adams: “I'm here. It’s real. I've been seeing some of the reactions. I saw some live reactions from a couple of people, a couple local podcasts and stuff like that, some video podcasts where people were reporting some Raider stuff. And then I saw one of the guys on there, me and my buddy were watching it yesterday. They probably think that I would see it and not care, but that stuff means a lot just seeing how people react to that type of stuff. Obviously, I'm excited. I know the team is excited, but to see the community and the rest of the world. I was out golfing yesterday and there's some Raider fans on the course and they were just losing it. Like different than if it was two weeks ago. I don't know. They see me for the Packers and they're excited but being back home and a lot of people in Cali are obviously Raider fans as well. So, it's real. I'm excited. I'm ready to get to work and do this thing.”
Q: It’s been about nine years since you and Derek were teammates at Fresno State. Have you thought about what week one could look like for you to be teammates for the first time in nine years?
Adams: “Yeah, man. I mean, I'm hoping it’s fireworks, but we going to do whatever it takes to get some wins, man. That's what's most important. The numbers are going to come and the touchdowns and all that. I think we've established that we know we're doing apart from each other, let alone when we get together. So, we both excited and ready to get to work. Derek has been bothering me to throw every day. I'm like, ‘Look, man, I got to sign. I got to do all this stuff. Get some of the logistics taken care of, make sure my wife not in too much pain.’ But yeah, we already ready to get to work and start building on that connection that we built over a decade ago.”
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