John William "Tree" Adams (September 22, 1921 – August 20, 1969) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

from 1945 to 1949. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

Early life

Adams was born in

Charleston, Arkansas Charleston is a city in Franklin County, Arkansas, United States, and along with Ozark is one of the two county seats of Franklin County. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,494 at t ...

as one of ten children. He was considered normal size until he was 10, but then experienced a growth spurt during which he "shot up like a tree". He attended

Subiaco Academy Subiaco Academy is an American Roman Catholic day and boarding school for boys founded in 1928. Serving grades 7-12, it is part of Subiaco Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Subiaco, Arkansas. Earlier schools at the priory and abbey dated to 1887 ...

Subiaco, Arkansas Subiaco is a town in Logan County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 572 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Subiaco Abbey, which is located there, and which donated in the early 20th century for a townsite and railroad connec ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

College career

Adams played

at the

from 1942 to 1944. In 1943, he was the backup for Ziggy Czarobski on the 1943 championship team and then became the starting tackle in 1944.

Professional career

Adams was selected in the third round of the

1945 NFL Draft The 1945 National Football League Draft was held on April 8, 1945, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected halfback Charley Trippi. Player selections Round o ...

by the

References

External links

* 1921 births 1969 deaths American football offensive tackles Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Arkansas People from Charleston, Arkansas {{offensive-lineman-1920s-stub