Davante Adams Seeks Edge From All Sources, Including This Rookie

Albert Einstein once said that when a person stops learning, the person begins to die. Well, the resident genius in the Los Angeles Rams’ wide receivers room is very much alive.

And while the Rams are learning from the six-time Pro Bowler, he’s turned the tables on his new teammates. He’s actually learning from them.

“It's not as much of they're going to open their mouth and say something I haven't heard,” Adams said Saturday, “but different techniques. The wheel's always being reinvented and you can only do so much with certain routes.”

Adams, 32, said he’s even learned from Konata Mumpfield, the Rams’ seventh-round selection in April’s draft out of Pitt.

“And that's opened my eyes,” Adams said, “not necessarily like, ‘Oh my God; I've never seen that,’ but it’s him changing up his pace and working through some things, seeing some of the errors and the trial and error, I guess I could say.

“Even over the course of three practice days, how he can transform and go and kill some of our better corners on some amazing routes. It's fun for me just watching the growth of him, talking through it, seeing somebody fail, doing something a certain way and then going out there and knocking it out of the park. I feel like a proud dad watching him out there.”

Rookie was meant to be a Ram

Mumpfield’s dad is proud of him, too. Now a 6-1, 185-pound professional, Mumpfield slept in his shoulder pads as a 4-year-old and dreamt of becoming Troy Polamalu.

“It’s been embedded in me since I was young,” Mumpfield told Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I come from a football family background. My dad played football. My grandfather was athletic. My brothers played football and basketball, and my sister played softball. My mother loved football, and her family loved football. Growing up, I always had that love. Once I got to high school, it felt like I was meant to play football.”

Nov 30, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Konata Mumpfield (9) runs for a touchdown against the Boston College Eagles during the second half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Mumpfield was meant to play football for the Rams. Ray Farmer, the Rams’ senior personnel advisor and former GM of the Browns, played against Mumpfield’s dad in college. When Farmer was at Duke and the elder Mumpfield, Ceeprian, was at North Carolina State, they formed a friendship. Farmer has known the new Rams rookie since he was in middle school.

Mumpfield shed light on that relationship after the Rams drafted him in April.

“We just continued to grow a bond throughout,” said Mumpfield, who began his career at Akron before transferring to Pitt. “I've been talking to him throughout my whole college career and even when I was in high school. He was just giving me advice, helping me along the way and things like that. Just letting me know just to continue to work hard regardless of how things look and the situations. He's just always been there, someone to help for sure.”

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