He’s Rushing To The Top Seattle’s Sam Adams Is A Dominant Force On The Seahawks Defense

Cortez Kennedy looked his All-Pro buddies in the eyes when he peered into his crystal ball.

“I told the guys, Michael Dean Perry, Chester McGlockton, at my football camp that Sam Adams has the quickest get-off of any defensive tackle,” said Kennedy, an accomplished get-off pass rusher with six Pro Bowl selections.

“I told Sam, ‘If you keep working hard, you can surpass me, Chester and Michael Dean.’ But it takes a lot of work to be in that category. Sam Adams has the potential to be above all of us.”

Since the day Seattle drafted Adams with the eighth pick of the first round in 1994, it has had an ally in his development: the calendar.

He was 20 then. Most 20-year-olds aren’t in the NFL banging helmets with 300-pound offensive linemen. Successfully, anyway.

“It’s a man’s game and kids don’t play it well,” defensive line coach Tommy Brasher said after a training-camp practice in Cheney. “He was one of the youngest players I’ve ever seen in the draft. So he’s grown up and learned to take the challenge. He enjoys playing.”

It can be enjoyable when your job is to blow up the backfield. Adams has camped in the Seahawks backfield so much he could probably tell what brand of toothpaste quarterback John Friesz is using. He’s been that dominating.

To the casual observer, that is. He’s not as impressed.

“I’ve done some good things and some bad things,” said Adams, now 24 and entering his fourth year. “I have a whole lot to improve on. I’m young and I just want to get better.”

So far, so good.

“I’ll take an experienced player over a rookie any time,” he said. “I may have been full of fire, but I had a ways to go, learning what was happening.”

His education wasn’t always pleasant. He heard the whispers of teammates and the media’s criticism that he didn’t play hard every down, that he wasn’t in top physical condition.

“I’m a sensitive person,” he said. “I take everything they say personally. People talk bad about me, my teammates, my coaches, the media. … I know what they’re saying. Loose lips sink ships. That stuff keeps me going.”

Some of the past, though, makes Adams regretful.

“It got worse after that (his rookie season) and I responded badly to it,” he said. “All the negativeness, I responded way bad, but you know the way I look at it, they’re not me. They can’t live for me, so I’m just going to go about my business.”

There was talk of trimming his salary, but Adams had a breakout season last year. He was rewarded with a contract extension.

Whatever the source of his motivation, Adams surely is going full tilt in camp. He finished ‘96 with 41 tackles, 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.

He has been quick off the snap and strong with straight-on surges.

“I’m a lot stronger and bigger,” he said. “I did think that (getting bigger) would slow me down and I still think it has, but they (coaches) don’t seem to think so.”

Nobody’s talking bad about Adams these days. There isn’t much to complain about, unless folks aren’t fond of him demolishing offensive drills before they unfold.

“He’s hungry,” defensive end Michael Sinclair said.

“He wants to be one of the top tackles in the game,” Kennedy said. “He has something to prove.”

“He was criticized early in his career and people just didn’t give him a chance,” defensive coordinator Greg McMackin said. “I’m really proud of him.”

Teammates speculate that the birth of his son has been a factor in the new and improved Adams.

“Just over the last six months, he’s matured and changed a lot,” said center Kevin Mawae, an LSU grad who played against Adams, who was at Texas A&M, in college. “Another thing that changed is he’s a dad, and when that happens your outlook changes. Your priorities change, and his changed for the better.”

Adams made numerous public appearances on behalf of the team during the stadium vote campaign.

He is saying all the right things.

“Being young, being in the environment I’m in, sometimes it’s hard to keep an eye on the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “I try to live the way he (God) wants me to live, which is hard sometimes.”

But, it appears, getting easier by the day. Each day, however, presents a new challenge.

“It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday,” he said. “You’ve got to do it TODAY. If you don’t improve, you’re mediocre and I hate mediocrity.”

So what’s next?

“The Super Bowl, that’s the only goal that matters,” Adams said sternly.

The look in his eyes made you believe him.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo